Warrington welcomed Birkenhead Park to Stockton Lane on a glorious October afternoon, the sun was shining and the pitch was looking fantastic, the perfect ingredients for a great game of attacking rugby. The teams had missed playing each other last season, so were looking forward to locking horns again.

First Half
The first half started with periods of possession for both teams, the attacks were testing defences, but a combination of great defence and loose carries saw the ball change hands several times, but the attacking intent from both teams in trying to get the ball out wide was clear to see. Warrington were the team that struck first, a couple of penalties saw them get into the Birkenhead 22, then some quick thinking from Warrington saw them go quickly and get the ball into the hands of Charlie Howson, and despite a quick juggle with the ball, he regained and dotted down for the try, the conversion was missed, 5 – 0

The next 10 minutes saw more of the same, possession swapping hands multiple times, as more pressure defence from both teams saw them swap penalties and knock ons with neither team really threatening to score. This changed when Birkenhead Park got a penalty and kicked to the corner, what followed was a passage of very poor discipline from Warrington as they gave away a series of penalties in their own 22, which culminated in a Yellow card for Logan Jones. The defence never got set from the resulting penalty and Birkenhead quickly went wide to score in the corner, the conversion was missed and the game was level 5 – 5

The Yellow card seemed to galvanise Warrington as they came back and Birkenhead and pretty much set up camp in their half and then 22 for the duration of the sin bin, but they just couldn’t look after the ball and kept coughing up possession through a combination of resolute Birkenhead defence and poor Warrington execution, it was from one of these turnovers that Birkenhead struck next, a scrum from an errant lineout saw them feed one of their pacy backs, the Warrington defence bit in and he went around the outside and kicked, then did what every coach tells their players, gamble as the ball can bounce anywhere, the kick went over the Warrington full back but then bounced back over him and into the hands of the kicker, he wouldn’t be caught as he dove over the line for a great breakaway score, the conversion was missed 5 - 10

Half-Time Score: Warrington 5 – Birkenhead Park 10

Second Half
Warrington were disappointed with themselves in being behind at half time and they came roaring out into the second half, they forced a knock on from the kick off, and the put together a sustained series of phases as they drove closer to the line, this stretched the defence and it was Dexter Spurling who capitalised, picking from the ruck, spotting the gap and driving through and over the line, Will Reynolds knocked over the conversion, 12 – 10

Birkenhead nearly scored immediately in response as a fantastic kick off and chase saw them knock the ball back and drive towards the line, but Warrington’s defence held firm, and the game then settled into it’s previous pattern for the next 15 minutes, both teams having plenty of possession through great defence and unforced errors, but without really threatening the line. Then Birkenhead got themselves into Warrington’s 22, and looked like they were going to score in the corner but brilliant scramble defence forced a knock on, but Birkenhead weren’t to be denied, as Warrington’s faltering set piece gave up a scrum penalty, and whilst Warrington’s defence was no where, they tapped quickly and dived over for a smartly taken try, the conversion was missed, 12 – 15

Warrington came right back at Birkenhead and their pressure forced another knock on, and it looked like they may go through the phases again to get over the line, but a series of unforced errors, gave Birkenhead the chance to clear and it looked like the opportunity had gone, but from the resulting play Warrington won a scrum, and the backs executed one of their planned moves perfectly, Will Reynolds took the ball to the line which created a gap and Joss Ivins hit it with a perfect line, he went outside and Charlie Howson ran a perfect line inside to take the offload and streak away to go under the posts, Will Reynolds kicked the conversion, 19 – 15

Birkenhead Park hit back almost immediately, with Warrington committing the error that you never want to see when you have scored, gifting your opponents the chance to do themselves, Warrington gather from kick off but another unforced error in throwing an intercept, then compounding that with poor discipline for several penalties, allowed Birkenhead to camp in their 22, then get the ball wide and dot for the score, the conversion was kicked, 19 – 22

It looked like Warrington would hit back at them immediately, as their defence forced another knock on from the kick off, giving them possession in the Birkenhead Park, but their ball retention and discipline cost them again as Birkenhead intercepted a pass and then a high shot allowed them to kick into the Warrington 22. Great pressure defence forced a knock on, but a great scrum from Birkenhead saw them force a knock on from Warrington’s scrum to give them the put in, then more ill discipline from Warrington saw them give away penalty after penalty, and Birkenhead took full advantage, spotted an overlap, threw it wide and executed a perfect 2-1 for the winger to score in the corner, the conversion was missed 19 – 27

Full-Time Score: Warrington 19 – Birkenhead Park 27

Full-Time Summary

It was a pulsating and end to end game, that was a fantastic display of effort and commitment from both sides, and a brilliant spectacle to watch, with some fantastic tries and resolute defending, in the end Birkenhead Park were worthy winners, but Warrington will be rueing their penalty and error count, as on another day, it could well have been them celebrating victory.

Man of the Match today went to Charlie Howson, he played a half at Centre and a half at Wing, and performed both brilliantly, he was scored 2 tries, contributed to many more attacks, and defended brilliantly, and superb performance from him, continuing the great start to the season he has made.