Warrington 16

Aspull 19

WARRINGTON Rugby Union Club's dreams of appearing in their first Lancashire Trophy final were cruelly shattered by Aspull.

In a tense and thrilling encounter they were not only knocked out of the competition but lost their long standing unbeaten home record to a last minute dropped goal.

Warrington will look to their failure to convert a number of gilt edged chances in the first half when they had use of the strong wind as a major contributing factor to the defeat but Aspull shared great resourcefulness in defence to keep their line intact.

Aspull had opened strongly and took the lead with an early penalty goal but by the break Andy James had kicked three in reply to put Warrington ahead 9-3.

Andy Walker and Matt Drinkwater in the centres, provided with a steady supply of ball from the forwards, ripped holes in the visitors' defence but on each occasion the support play could not provide a try.

The second half opened with Aspull kicking a second penalty before Warrington upped their efforts. The forwards, particularly Callander and Keulemans, plundered through gaps in the Aspull defence and with 20 minutes remaining they gained their reward when Holce won line-out ball and the forwards bulldozed their way over with prop Terry Blohm claiming the touch down which James converted.

Warrington's Achilles this season has been dealing with kick offs and Sunday was no different. As Warrington were caught off side Aspull immediately reduced the scoreline to 16-9 with their third kick.

As Warrington tired Aspull leaped attack after attack on to them and after several attempts to crash through the middle were thwarted they transferred the ball wide and the left winger scorched in at the corner. An excellent conversion saw the game tied - a scoreline which would have put Aspull into the final as the away team.

Despite Warrington's best efforts to get downfield again they could not do so and a late dropped goal saw the visitors win the game outright.

Not for the first time this season the Bridge Lane faithful witnessed another nail-biting finish to a game, but this time Warrington were not able to turn the match in their favour.

Prop Ian McLarney said afterwards: "It would be wonderful to win every week, but today the two sides matched each other throughout.

"Neither team could complain if the other had won. The outcome really falls on the bounce of the ball and the rub of the green. It was a great contest and good luck to Aspull in the final. We'll just have to make sure we win the league which has always been our priority."

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