Warrington 14 Kirkby Lonsdale 52.

WARRINGTON coach Andy Roberts says his side need to regroup as their first home game of the season ended with a heavy defeat to Kirby Lonsdale.

The visitors ran in seven tries at Walton Lea Road to condemn the hosts to their fourth consecutive defeat.

“We always knew this was going to be a tough game,” Roberts said.

“Kirkby were a good side last season and look even better this term. We now need to regroup and start to pick up wins.

“Hopefully, we can start on the road to recovery next week at Eccles.”

In perfect conditions on Saturday afternoon, Kirkby ran in their first try through Alex Rogers and rarely looked back from there.

Tyran Fagan and Ryan Terry, who converted all of the visitors’ tries, confirmed Kirkby’s dominance, but Warrington did have the last laugh to ensure the first half wasn’t totally one-sided.

Strong running from Craig Byrne and John McGregor got them close before Tom Wood scored between the posts, with Ben Hockenhull adding the extras.

The visitors got their fourth try to secure a bonus point after the break before a Terry penalty extended the lead, but Warrington refused to lie down and duly scored their second try during their best spell of the game.

Wood made excellent ground after a quick-tap penalty from Hockenhull before Byrne steamed over from 25 metres out, with Hockenhull again on target with the conversion.

However, tries from Fagan, Tom Pickthall and Stuart Storey rounded off a dominant victory from the Cumbrians.

As Roberts mentioned, Warrington are away at Eccles on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

n Crewe & Nantwich Seconds 24 Warrington Seconds 17

DESPITE outscoring their hosts by two tries to nil, Warrington’s seconds were beaten by expert kicking at Crewe & Nantwich.


Jamie Little was the star of the show for the hosts, kicking five penalty goals and three drop goals to ensure a frustrating loss.


The visitors opened the scoring when Dan Griffiths showed power and pace to crash over from ten metres, with Shaun McBriers adding the conversion.
However, Crewe stand-off Little took over and four penalty kicks took his side into a 12-7 lead.


Early in the second half, Warrington regained the lead when McBriers threw a disguised pass for winger Cam Lewis to score, with McBriers on target with the kick.


The boot of Little continued to make things tough for the visitors as he slotted his fifth penalty before adding three drop goals to secure what Warrington captain Shaun Yoxhall called “a frustrating afternoon”.


“We played all the rugby, with our two 17-year-olds, Josh Littler and Keenan O’Toole, supported by Nick Pennington and Dan Griffiths, outstanding throughout,” he said.


“However, we had no answer to an educated boot.”


After starting the season with back-to-back wins, the result now means Warrington have lost three games in a row.


Previous defeats came at Broughton Park on September 17 and at home to Blackburn on September 24.


They now sit eighth in the Division One table and face the tough proposition of a home game against league leaders Rossendale on Saturday, kick off 3pm.