THE weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Warrington Wolves winning the Player’s No6 Trophy for the first time.
How The Wire got there
Warrington had reached the final by beating Oldham (31-14), Castleford (18-9), Dewsbury (20-12) and St Helens (20-9), all at Wilderspool.
Opponents
Rochdale Hornets were their opponents in the final, and they were on a great run of form, having won 11 and drew one of their previous 12 games. They were also higher in the league than Warrington.
Booster
Warrington coach Alex Murphy received a pre-match boost with a telegram from football icon, and then Brighton manager, Brian Clough which read: “All the best for the final to my Rugby League team.”
Venue
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, and after heavy rain on the morning, the weather cleared and though the pitch was soft it was in remarkably good shape.
Scoreline
The game that followed was a credit to both sides, with Warrington winning a very open affair by 27 points to 16. Warrington tries: Derek Noonan (2), Mike Nicholas, Derek Whitehead and John Bevan. Goals: Whitehead (6). Rochdale tries: Brelesford (2), Taylor and Brophy. Goals: Holliday (2).
Match star
Captain Kevin Ashcroft, who dominated the scrums 15-5 over Ray “Nipper” Harris, giving his team plenty of ball. He was given a silver salver, and a £25 cash prize (about £400 today) which he donated to Wigan’s groundsman Billy Mitchell in making the game playable under difficult conditions.
Cloughie
For Brian Clough, he didn’t get chance to watch “his” Warrington team win the trophy on Grandstand TV that day, as he was in charge of his Brighton football team in the old Third Division, drawing 1-1 at home to Grimsby! Better times were on the way for him though.
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