Warrington beaten at Penrith

A DEPLETED Warrington side were unable to score a try at Penrith on Saturday.

The loss moves Warrington to eighth in the league and facing a tough final two months of the season.

Luke Wood's penalty was all the visitors had to show for a trip to Cumbria.

The first half saw two well-matched defences deny any try-scoring, although both sides had opportunities.

Penrith opened their account with a well-struck penalty from 40 yards and five minutes later a good run and kick ahead from Max Caldwell was unlucky not to bear dividends.

The young Warrington scrum was performing heroically in the set piece, not ceding an inch to their more experienced opponents, while Phil Lynch and Sean Callendar were virtually ruling the lines.

However, this was to no avail as Penrith punished two further Warrington indiscretions with penalty kicks to take a half-time lead of 9-0.

Warrington started the second period at pace and were unlucky not to cross the line. Their persistence eventually saw them awarded a penalty which converted by Luke Wood.

Penrith soon replied with a brace of penalties and then, helped by some weak Warrington tackling and a plethora of spilled ball, they took the game beyond Warrington’s reach.  

First the Penrith number 8 forced his way over from  a five yard scrum, after the seven-man Warrington pack had prevented three consecutive attempts to score a push-over try.

From the restart, the Penrith backs showed good handling to engineer a score in the corner, which was also converted.

Ten minutes later, good handling and running saw Penrith score again and they completed a good afternoon’s work by scoring the bonus point try with five minutes on the clock.

“It’s always a big ask coming to Cumbria,” said coach Darren Abram. “Having to stitch the team together on a Saturday morning makes it even harder.

"However, I was pleased with the way our young side performed, especially up front. We play New Brighton at home next week and they had a decisive win against Widnes today so we are well aware that there are no easy games in this league.”

It was a better day for Warrington seconds, who beat De La Salle 46-14.

Warrington were soon on their way with an intelligent kick from skipper Kev Jones deep into De La Salle’s left hand corner. 

Pressure from winger Gary Jackman forced a poor pass from the De La Salle winger and full back Marek Brazier-Kobus pounced on the ball for Warrington’s first try which Ben Hockenhull duly converted.

The lead was short lived, however, as De La Salle struck back with a try under the posts from a well- weighted kick from their tricky centre.

Though the uncontested scrums tended to even out possession, Warrington made better use of theirs with some strong running, notably from number 8 Rob Wooldridge and second rower Pat Massey and when the ball was recycled quickly and kept in hand Warrington always looked dangerous. 

Intruding in the line, back rower Mike Bellerby gave a perfectly weighted kick for winger Andy Almond who touched down under the posts having benefited from a kind bounce. Hockenhull made no mistake with the simple conversion.

Not to be outdone in the kicking stakes centre Jones slotted a 45–yard drop goal two minutes later to stretch the lead to 17-7.  Undaunted, De La Salle charged back into attack and exerted continuous  pressure on the Warrington line. This was successfully resisted due to some bone-crunching tackles particularly by Massey.

Warrington were unlucky not to increase their ten point lead from the second half restart. Showing real effort in the chase, winger Tom Hockenhull and back rower Matt Bayliss caught the visitors on their own five–yard line and only a panic stricken boot managed to hack the ball over the deadball line for a five-metre scrum for Warrington.

Warrington were not to be denied, however, and after 5 minutes of pressure in the visitors’ 22 , bulky centre Craig Byrne battered over under the posts in his own inimitable style to give another easy conversion for Hockenhull.  Brazier-Kobus added his second try 5 minutes later and would have had a third in quick succession but for stepping over the deadball line as he attempted to get nearer the posts.

De La Salle still demanded strong defensive effort, however, as they continued to press through their forwards. 

Fortunately, however, they were unable to retain possession at crucial moments and Warrington countered with good break outs from Wooldridge and Massey. From one such counter, with 20 minutes to go, the ball was shipped crisply down the line for Tom Hockenhull to record his first try and put Warrington 36-7 ahead.  

At line-outs, recent signing McKendrick at hooker consistently found jumper Wooldridge, no easy feat given the unsettled nature of the side, to give Warrington tidy possession in this area.

Thus, with their own share of scrum ball, Warrington had plenty of ball to play with but De La Salle counter rucked strongly, punishing Warrington for not committing sufficient bodies to the ruck and stealing back possession.

With 10 minutes to go and De La Salle under heavy pressure in their own half a wild clearance kick skewed across the field into the welcoming arms of winger Almond who touched down unopposed.  

Warrington continued to press but with 3 minutes to go an interception by De La Salle on their own 10-metre line gave them a try between the posts.

The last word lay with Warrington, however, as man of the match Wooldridge picked up from the back of a scrum just 10 metres out and fittingly got his name on the score sheet.

“This was an excellent performance today,” commented captain Kev Jones, “Our new recruits seem to have fitted in very well and I am confident we can do well in the next few weeks, when we have crunch games against Waterloo and Wirral, both of whom lie ahead of us in the table.”