10:36am Monday 26th March 2012
Wigan Warriors u20 24 Warrington Wolves u20 34
Warrington Wolves under 20s emerged victorious from a pulsating and high quality encounter with Wigan Warriors in the Valvoline Cup on Saturday.
With the game delicately poised throughout and with both sides enjoying periods of territorial domination, the result was only decided in the final few minutes when Wolves' greater composure saw them seal a memorable win.
Wolves' under 20s head coach Richard Marshall said: "The standard was notched up a couple of gears this week with both clubs putting strong teams out onto the field and that had a positive impact with the speed and intensity of the game suiting us.
"The game was similar to the first team encounter on Friday night, with ill-discipline and unforced errors early in the tackle count preventing us from taking control in the opening quarter.
"But we turned that around and came in at half time in a buoyant frame of mind with a six point lead.
"We addressed some of their threats and cleaned our discipline up; we challenged the opposition and even though we went behind we played with a great desire and maturity to come back and close the game out in such fine style.
"On the whole we still have plenty of room for improvement but we have to remember that we had several players playing out of position and some making their first appearance of the season."
"It is a fantastic result for us at this stage of the season and rounds off a very good weekend for the club and hopefully we can replicate this again next weekend when we entertain St. Helens, kick off 2.30pm at Wilderspool Stadium."
The opening quarter was tight and with both sides guilty of silly handling errors it wasn't until the 19th minute that the deadlock was broken, when Wolves substitute Brad Dwyer went on a run from dummy half and jinked his way around Wigan's defensive line before rounding the full back to score at the side of the posts.
Scrum half Ryan Shaw converted, but the lead lasted only four minutes as the Warriors hit back when hooker Logan Tomkins copied Dwyer to run in a solo try from dummy half.
Full back Jack Murphy levelled the scores with the simple conversion.
Just after the half hour mark Dwyer made a break down the left and the move was carried on by fellow substitute Andy Finn, who had just entered the fray.
He found winger Rhys Williams, who somehow managed to touchdown with one hand in the left corner and give Shaw the chance too slot over a tough touchline conversion.
Wolves' lead was increased three minutes later, when Dwyer went on his own for a trademark try after second row James Laithwaite had been held short.
Shaw again added the conversion.
Three minutes before the break the Warriors got themselves back into the game when two powerful drives put second row Connor Farrell in a position to charge over, with Murphy converting to make the score 18-12.
The second half followed a similar vein to the first, with neither side able to make the most of their chances.
When the home side were awarded a penalty deep in Wolves' half, a short ball from winger Amos Roberts found second row Rhodri Lloyd linking into the line to score on the left.
Murphy added the extras to level the scores.
The tight encounter continued until Wolves' loose forward Tyrone McCarthy sucked four defenders in before offloading brilliantly to stand off Ben Currie, who put Williams over on the left.
The hosts managed to get their noses in front after winger Matty Russell split Wolves' defence and a quick play-the-ball saw an overlap for Lloyd to exploit and score on the left.
Murphy converted to give his side the lead for the first time at 24-22.
But Wolves refused to panic and in the closing stages managed to pull off a superb fightback.
Three minutes from time the impressive McCarthy managed to get the ball to Dwyer, who put centre James Saltonstall over wide out on the right.
Shaw converted to recapture the lead before Wolves added icing on the cake, Dwyer's chip ahead on the last tackle bouncing off a Wigan player into the arms of Currie, who rounded the full back to give Shaw a simple conversion and complete the scoring.
Wolves: Jordan Burke, Danny Birkett, James Saltonstall, Callan Beckett, Rhys Williams, Ben Currie, Ryan Shaw, Glenn Riley, Liam Hulme, Ryan Duffy, James Laithwaite, Danny Bridge, Tyrone McCarthy. Subs: Ben Hellewell, Brad Dwyer, Jack Morrison, Andy Finn.
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