Warrington 34 Carlisle 28

WARRINGTON turned round an interval deficit to clinch a thrilling victory in North One West.

Sam Nichols' late try, in an unusual manner for Darren Abram's team, finally settled matters in this mid-table encounter.

Abram, the former Oldham centre and ex-Leigh Centurions head coach, said:

“This was the cliché game of two halves.

“Carlisle controlled the game for the first 40 minutes but we came back strongly in the second half to gain the points."

Carlisle's early dominance provided their first try but Warrington soon replied.

Sean Callendar stole a lineout and the ball flashed to wing Max Caldwell, who showed electric pace before being held up short of the line. He did enough to earn a penalty which was duly dispatched by Luke Wood.

The visitors increased their lead with another try and now had an iron grip on possession but a lineout steal saw Warrington execute an excellent driving maul that led to Wood slotting over a penalty.

Carlisle replied with a penalty of their own from the restart and Warrington let them off the hook when Tom Wood chose to throw a dummy when a pass would have seen Andy Roberts stroll over.

Fortunately, they were awarded a penalty within minutes but again the Cumbrians responded when they kicked a penalty to lead 18-9 at the interval.

Warrington changed gear from the whistle and it paid dividends.

Although Max Caldwell was held up short, the ball was well recycled and Tom Wood passed inside for flanker Matt Connolly to cross. Luke Wood converted.

Both sides exchanged penalties but a strong Warrington attack saw Carlisle interfere unfairly when the line was wide open and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.

The conversion gave Abram's men the lead for the first time in the game.

A further penalty gave Warrington an eight-point margin but Carlisle soon cut that with a converted try from a driving maul.

Both sides conspired to miss kickable penalties but Warrington closed off the game when Nichols touched down after a driving maul, a tactic rarely seen in Warrington’s play book.