Firwood Waterloo 19 Warrington 20

WARRINGTON sealed victory against in-form Waterloo with a last-gasp penalty kick from Ben Hockenhull.

Waterloo had stamped their authority on the game from the start and forced a five-yard scrum and used the possession to drift over for the first try.

Five minutes later they struck again and good handling by the backs created a second try for a 12-0 lead.

But gritty Warrington defence kept their opponents from adding to it and from their first real possession Hockenhull slotted over a penalty for the visitors.

A Warrington chance came to nothing as the teams turned around with Waterloo in the driving seat.

However, the second half saw glimpses of Warrington’s early season form.

A break from the dangerous-looking Steve Pilkington brought Warrington’s first try as he released Nathan Beesley, the young speedster outpacing the cover to cross.

Warrington got their second try to lead as left winger Max Caldwell was the beneficiary of lovely handling.

But Waterloo were not finished and forced a line-out five yards out and used all their strength to drive over and kick the conversion for a two-point lead with one minute left on the clock. Many other sides would have accepted the inevitable but not Warrington on this day.

But up stepped Ben Hockenhull and his trusty boot placed the ball precisely between the uprights.

“This was an excellent win,” enthused coach Andy Roberts.

“Once again our defence was superb but at last we seem to have regained our attacking flair.

"We play Rochdale next, surprise winners against Vale of Lune two weeks ago, demonstrating, as we did on Saturday, that every team in this league can beat every other side on the day. It should be a good game.”

Liverpool Vet School 14 Warrington 2nd 15

WARRINGTON’S second team came back from being 14-7 down at half time to run out eventual winners against a pacey Liverpool Vets side.

Tony Fretwell scored the game’s first try for Warrington but Liverpool ran in two excellent tries before the break for the seven-point lead at the interval.

Darren Norman then reduced the deficit for the visitors 10 minutes into the second period with a well-struck penalty as Warrington started to get on top. And Harry Kellett picked up from the base of a five yard scrum and powered over for the winning score.