Warrington Wolves u19 34 Bradford Bulls u19 34

WARRINGTON Wolves came back from the dead against Bradford Bulls to snatch a dramatic draw in an enthralling Under 19s Academy game at Victoria Park Arena to remain in fourth place in the league table.

The Bulls looked to have done enough to secure both points as they built up a twelve point advantage but the young Wolves refused to give in and two converted tries in the last three minutes saw them gain a share of the spoils.

The Wolves got off to the perfect start when they opened the scoring in the second minute; a short ball from scrum half Brad Stanway put stand off Harvey Livett through a gap and he found prop forward Alex Tankard who raced away and shrugged off three defender before offloading to second row Ellis Gillam who collected superbly to score wide out on the left.

Livett converted but three minutes later the Bulls responded when they swept the ball along the line through several pairs of hands to create an overlap for winger Josh Rickett to go over from close range in the left corner.

Bradford then took the lead on fourteen minutes when scrum half Jake Trueman and stand off Brandon Pickersgill combined to send second row James Pickering through a gap and he raced forty five metres to score at the right of the posts.

Full back Luke Hooley converted but then three minutes later it was the Wolves turn to reply as a handling error from Bradford on their own ten metre line gave the Wolves a scrum and Livett found full back Declan Kay linking into the line and his long ball put winger Lewis Turner over in the right corner. Livett landed a fine conversion.

The Wolves then extended their advantage just before the half hour mark when they ran the ball on the last tackle and Stanway found Kay who combined with centre Jack Fox to put winger Hugh Adams over in the left corner.

Livett landed another difficult touchline goal but then the kick off from Hooley bounced into space and Trueman reacted quickest to collect the ball and race over at the left of the posts. Hooley added the conversion.

A Wolves handling error when attacking the Bradford line was pounced on by Bulls centre Ross Oakes and he passed onto Rickett who raced eighty metres to score wide out on the left.

Hooley goaled superbly and then added a penalty right on the stroke of half time to give his side a deserved 24-18 interval lead.

Bradford increased their advantage twelve minutes into the second half when a clever chip from five metres out by Trueman on the last tackle saw Pickersgill react fastest and he collected the ball to score under the posts.

Hooley converted but the Wolves hit back thirteen minutes later when from a penalty close to the Bulls line the ball was sent out to Kay and he slipped a great pass out to centre Jack Roper who managed to twist in the tackle and score wide out on the right.

Almost immediately the Bulls looked to have done enough to get the win when a long kick to the corner by Pickersgill held up in the in-goal area and centre Matty Chrimes managed to chase downfield and as the Wolves defence hesitated he was adjudged to have got his hand on the ball to score in the left corner and give his side a twelve point cushion.

The Wolves gave themselves a lifeline three minutes from time when a chip into the in-goal area by Stanway saw Livett win the race to touchdown at the side of the posts.

He converted the try himself and then in the final minute pressure on the Bulls line paid off as Tankard managed to bulldoze his way over under the posts with four men on his back. Livett added the conversion to make the final score 34-34.

Wolves: Declan Kay; Lewis Turner, Jack Roper, Jack Fox, Hugh Adams; Harvey Livett, Brad Stanway; Alex Tankard, Harry Reardon, Pat Moran, Ellis Gillam, Ellis Robson, Nathan Ainsworth. Subs: Yohan Veve, Jordan Williams, Reece Brunt, Andy Philbin.