Leeds Rhinos U19s 25 Warrington Wolves U19s 12

WARRINGTON Wolves under 19s were beaten at Leeds Rhinos on Saturday in the Academy League.

Two tries in the second half from Harvey Livett were not enough to stop Lee Briers’ side slipping to defeat at Stanningley ARLFC.

However the under 19s’ head coach was pleased to see his respond after a heavy defeat against Wigan a week previous.

““I asked for a reaction from the boys following the Wigan game and they certainly give me that,” said Briers.

“Whilst we would have liked to win the game I cannot fault the efforts of the lads; they gave their all and on another day we may well have come away with the win.

“We still have areas to work on and we will be doing that in training this week as we prepare to entertain Hull FC next Saturday (kick off 11.30am at Victoria Park Arena).

“Daniel Murray deserves special praise having completed 80 minutes in the front row for the first time in his career; he never took a backward step.”

Both sides were very evenly matched and the game could have gone either way but in the end it was the more clinical attacking play of the Rhinos that saw them get the win.

It took until the 26th minute for the first score of the game; Rhinos substitute Josh Jordan-Roberts was held just short after a powerful drive and from a quick play the ball second row Ben Frankland burrowed over from dummy half to score at the side of the posts.

Stand off Joe Sanderson converted and then six minutes before the break Frankland went over for his second try.

Once again he went from dummy half and managed to twist in the tackle and score wide out on the right. Sanderson added the conversion to give his side a 12-0 half-time lead.

Rhinos extended their advantage two minutes into the second half when some fine handling saw the ball reach full back Mark Rawsthorn, who linked into the line and went through a gap to score on the left.

Sanderson converted and 10 minutes later added a drop goal to push Leeds 19-0 ahead.

Wolves thought they had finally got on the scoreboard when stand off Morgan Smith went over between the posts, but the referee ruled out the try for obstruction.

However, just before the hour good work by loose forward Livett saw him punch a hole in the Rhinos defence and charge 30 metres.

From the play the ball substitute Davey Dixon passed back to Livett who scored betweenthe posts to give himself the simplest of conversions.

Then, as Wolves continued to pile on the pressure, French hooker Yohan Veve looked to have grounded the ball at the side of the posts, but the referee ruled that he had been held up.

Wolves were now well on top and twice winger David Foggin-Johnston’s acrobatics nearly brought him a try in the left corner.

With seven minutes remaining they did give themselves a glimmer of hope when a sharp pass close to the line from Dixon put Livett over at the side of the posts. He once again converted his own try to narrow the gap to seven points.

Wolves continued to press right up to the end of the game and as they looked to go over once again in the final minute Leeds winger Ryan Jones intercepted a pass and raced 70 metres to score. Sanderson converted.

Wolves: Jack Johnson; Declan Kay, Richard Harris, Charlie Phythian, David Foggin-Johnston; Morgan Smith, Harry Reardon; Daniel Murray, Yohan Veve, Pat Moran, Sam Wilde, James Jones, Harvey Livett. Subs: Robert Holroyd, Andy Philbin, Davey Dixon, Alex Whalley.