Warrington 2nd 21 Rossendale 2nd 21

MATT Rockey’s successful conversion earned for Warrington a share of the spoils from the last kick of a close encounter.

Full back Will Larbey, making his second-team debut, had crossed the line in the corner from the game’s final play.

“I don’t know where the lads found the spirit from,” said smiling player-coach Paul Thompson afterwards.

“We came back from the dead, but it was a draw we deserved.”

They were a dozen points adrift at one stage.

The first 10 minutes of the game saw both teams arm-wrestling to gain the upper hand, with Warrington doing well to contain the heavier Rossendale pack.

Warrington edged into the lead when the ageless Rockey kicked a penalty from long distance.

Shortly afterwards a second Rockey penalty, following a superb driving Warrington scrum, put the home side further ahead but Rossendale replied with a three-pointer of their own.

The sides then exchanged two further penalties before Warrington were reduced to 14 men when Nick Pennington was sent to the sin bin.

And the visitors exploited their numerical advantage to score a forwards’ try on the stroke of half time.

They increased their lead to 21-9 after the interval with two well-executed tries from driving mauls.

In spite of the incessant rain, Warrington decided to unleash their talented back-line where debutant Danny Abbey made significant ground.

The introduction of Max Walker also added punch to the back row and Warrington continued to pound the Rossendale line but without immediate effect.

But the try, when it came, started off deep in the hosts’ own half.

Jack Hannon took a quick penalty and handed on to Rockey 60 yards from the Rossendale line.

The stand-off sliced through a gap in the defence before showing his old pace to beat the cover and dummying inside to crown a superb solo effort.

Warrington 3rd 13 Stockport 3rd 21

WARRINGTON could not prevent a bigger, stronger Stockport side from securing victory on a windy afternoon at Walton Lea Road.

“They outplayed us up front, and we didn’t create enough chances in the second half," reflected coach Lee Graham afterwards.

All of the hosts' points came before the break.

Dan Griffiths kicked a penalty, quickly cancelled out by a Stockport three-pointer, before the hosts went ahead when Matt Grimshaw sped to the line from halfway.

Griffiths converted, then slotted another penalty after the visitors clawed their way back into the game with a forwards’ try.

Stockport later added 11 unanswered points after the interval to swap places with their rivals in the North West Intermediate League’s Division Two South table.