A tale of missed chances and costly penalties as Warrington fall to Kendal

DESPITE the margin in the scoreline, Saturday's game could have gone either way.

Kendal were gifted 14 points and Warrington wasted at least three try-scoring opportunities as well as a couple of kickable penalties.

“Too many missed chances and too many penalties,” was the summing up of coach Andy Roberts.

“However, if we sort those problems and continue to play as we did, I don’t see us losing many more matches this season.”

With six games remaining, Warrington are fourth – 24 points adrift of leaders Kirkby Lonsdale and 14 behind third-placed Wilmslow.

This was a game full of attacking, open rugby.

It took just two minutes for Warrington to open their account, Tom Wood kicking a penalty.

After applying continuous pressure, a loose pass in the visitors’ 22 was kicked ahead for a Kendal try.

Warrington replied when Kieron Hughes put in a well-judged kick to the corner for Nathan Beesley to collect and squeeze over.

A Kendal penalty saw them retake the lead before a Warrington chance went begging, number eight Max Walker bouncing off tacklers and sprinting 60 yards before being stopped two yards short with back-up on both sides.

Kendal enjoyed 15 minutes of superiority, poor Warrington tackling and then a series of penalties allowing Kendal to score two more converted tries before the interval.

Warrington began the second half brightly, with Wood executing a signature dummy to slide over. Darren Norman converted.

Another tackle-shattering run from Walker set up the backs to move the ball left and led to Ryan Preston crossing but he was adjudged to have knocked on.

Beesley was sin-binned for an intentional knock-on and Kendal took advantage with a driving try against Warrington’s reduced pack.

When Josh Riley turned over the ball in the Kendal half, the forwards went patiently through the phases before Walker crashed over.

Kendal sealed the game with two converted tries and a further penalty.