West Park 12 Warrington 15

WARRINGTON coach Andy Roberts has called on his side to improve in several areas despite opening their season with victory at West Park.

In horrendous conditions in St Helens, the rain made the ball slippery and the error count was high on both sides.

After the game, Roberts said he wanted to see some areas of his team’s game sharpened up when they travel to Burnage on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

“Although we won, this was not the start to the season we were looking for,” he said.

“Our ball retention was poor and we also need to smarten up our handling. There were some positives, notably our line out and our defence.

“We play Burnage next week so I am looking for improvements all round.”

The visitors were the ones showing all the attacking intent and they were soon rewarded when they won a lineout 15 metres from the home line.

Sean Hughes made good progress up the blindside before Elliot Johnson picked up and burrowed over for a try converted by Ben Hockenhull.

Both sides missed penalty goal opportunities as The first half fizzled out with Warrington still holding a seven-point lead.

The second half saw the home side enjoy more of the ball as they sought a way back into the contest, but Warrington’s defence held firm.

That was, however, until West Park finally broke through as their forwards combined effectively from a lineout for Martin Kimberley to drive over the line, with Lee Rosney’s conversion levelling the scores.

Warrington tried todefy the conditions and play open rugby and it eventually paid off when prop Clem O’Rourke broke clear and made 25 metres.

Good hands saw the backs continue the momentum which led to Cam Lewis touching down in the corner.

The hosts levelled the game up again when a quick tap penalty saw Rosney send winger Tom Dempsey over the line in the corner with fifteen minutes still to go.

However, they were level for just five minutes as Warrington won a penalty in front of the posts and Hockenhull added an easy three points.

The visitors then had to hold on as West Park piled on the pressure in search of a winner but they were denied when Tom Arnold bundled Dempsey into touch when it looked like he had a clear run to the line.

Winnington Park Seconds 42 Warrington Thirds 17.

A BRAVE effort from Warrington’s thirds could not prevent Winnington Park from recording a resounding victory on Saturday.
With a young side out on the field, the visitors dominated the opening exchanges and Jeff Millington opened the scoring.
An injury to Zak Nichols saw Warrington reduced to 14 men and this allowed the hosts to build a convincing advantage.
However, Warrington did battle back and had the last word through Matt Ferguson and Ben Hart.