Although honours were even in the second half, the visitors had built too great a lead in the first for Warrington to overturn.

Sandbach opened the scoring after ten minutes following a familiar route to success. A penalty kicked to the Warrington 22 was followed by a line-out, where they excelled throughout the afternoon, and a driving maul that carried them over beneath the posts. 0-7

Just two minutes later, they struck again, this time in the corner, after confidently running back a Warrington goal-line drop-out. 0-12

In the 20th minute, stand-off Matt Beeley created a scoring opportunity for Warrington with a break from the Sandbach 10-metre line, but the final pass intended for winger James Hartill went astray. Sandbach counter-attacked immediately, but Warrington regained possession and Harry Kellett drove forward strongly. The move eventually ended with Hartill receiving his reward by crossing for a try, which JP Hudson converted. 7-12

Two minutes later, Hudson added a further three points when Sandbach were penalised inside their own 22. 10-12

Sandbach then enjoyed their strongest spell of the match, scoring two tries and a penalty before half-time. This was certainly not for a lack of effort from Warrington, whose uncompromising defence, particularly from Will Morgan and Andy Kellett, kept them in the contest. Rather, it stemmed from a series of self-inflicted penalties that prevented Warrington from escaping their own half, coupled with a well-drilled opposition side unafraid to move the ball with ambition.

Half-time: 10-27

The visitors extended their advantage just two minutes into the second half, once again building from a short penalty deep inside Warrington territory. 10-34

Warrington responded by applying sustained pressure, spending lengthy periods camped inside the Sandbach 22. However, they struggled at scrum time, where a front row made up of Downs, Green, Lloyd and debutant prop George Reay lacked experience as a settled unit. Even when Warrington earned several penalties within metres of the try line, execution proved disappointing and they came away empty-handed.

With 20 minutes remaining, Archie Kellett almost scored following a well-executed and clearly rehearsed looping move in the backs that saw the lively centre brought down just short of the line. Fortunately, back-row forward Sean Callander was on hand in support to finish the move. 15-34

Five minutes later, second-rower Will Morgan crossed for Warrington's third try after winger Luke Turner, making his 100th first-team appearance, chased down a magnificent cross-field kick that had Sandbach scrambling in defence. Hudson added the conversion. 22-34
Sandbach responded with a final try of their own, once again originating from a driving maul following a line-out. 22-39

Warrington spent the closing 10 minutes deep inside the Sandbach 22 searching for a bonus-point try. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalise on their own driving mauls and were often too slow in recycling possession under pressure from Sandbach's aggressive counter-rucking.

When Warrington did move the ball through the backs, they demonstrated the ability to break down the Sandbach defence and create scoring opportunities. However, too often the kicking option was chosen despite Sandbach's dangerous counter-attacking threat, and on the occasions chances were created, they were not converted.

Full-time 22-39

Team:
1) J.Downes*, 2) T.Green *, 3) J.Lloyd, 4) W.Morgan *, 5) Harry Kellett(c) *,
6) Andy Kellett *, 7) S.Callander *, 8) D.Fleming *, 9) O.Hudson *, 10) M.Beeley *,
11) J.Hartill *, 12) JP.Hudson *, 13) Archie Kellett,* 14) R.Newton *, 15) T.McEniff *
Replacements:
16) G.Reay, 17) J.Evans *, 18) L.Turner *
* Indicates home-grown players.

Referee: Neil Everett (Manchester & District Referees Society)

Report by Roy Potts, WRUFC

Next Fixture North 2 West: -
Warrington v Winnington Park Saturday 24th October 2026 KO 3pm