Douglas IoM 22 Warrington 10

WARRINGTON coach Andy Roberts says the long journey to the Isle of Man took its toll as his side were beaten in their North One West opener.

A 22-0 half-time deficit proved too much to overhaul and, despite outscoring their hosts in the second period, they returned to the mainland empty-handed.

Roberts highlighted the areas in which his side need to improve for Saturday’s clash with Northwich at Walton Lea, kick off 3pm.

“We probably took too long to shake the early morning flight to the Isle of Man out of our legs,” he said.

“It didn’t help that we suffered injuries to Max Caldwell, Steve Pilkington and Jon Ward.

“Even so, we need to stiffen up our defence before facing Northwich.”

Douglas started the game on the front foot and eventually broke through a determined Warrington defence midway through the first half, rumbling over from a lineout.

Fierce counter-rucking from the home pack then created their second try as the ball squirted over the Warrington line from a scrum five metres out, with Douglas being the first to react to touch down.

Warrington stand-off Tom Wood earned himself 10 minutes in the sin bin for reacting badly to an infringement and the hosts took full advantage of the extra man, adding a penalty and a third try before the interval.

The visitors emerged re-energised for the second half and put the hosts under sustained pressure, but the final pass often went astray.

Ben Hockenhull slotted a penalty to get Warrington on the board and, with 10 minutes left, Pilkington ran a superb line to split the Douglas defence and cross the whitewash.

Warrington managed to deny the hosts a bonus point but their season gets off to a disappointing start.

Kirkby Lonsdale 2nd 52 Warrington 2nd 0

SKIPPER Sean Yoxhall says he remains proud of his Warrington teammates despite a heavy defeat at Kirkby Lonsdale.

Warrington struggled to compete with the pace and power of the hosts as they failed to get on the scoresheet.

“We came, we saw, we were conquered,” Yoxhall said.

“We were unbowed and I am proud to have played with every one of the lads who made the trip today.”