Warrington came into the game excited about the opportunity to play Wirral, it had been a few years since the teams had played each other, and Warrington were looking to build on last weeks performance as they prepare for the quarter final of the Lancashire cup.

Warrington started the game very brightly, winning a lineout by tackling their opposition into touch, this allowed them to deploy one of their planned moves, the ball came quickly off the top, through the 9 and 10 into the hands of Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd) who out powered and out paced the would be tacklers to score under the posts, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) converted, 0 – 7

What followed was pretty much the pattern of the rest of the first half, Warrington struggled to secure clean ball as they weren’t committing enough players at the ruck to secure clean ball, so always allowed Wirral to opportunity to counter ruck, add this to Warrington’s baffling struggles to stay on the right side of the ref, and Wirral took full advantage, a series of penalties allowing them to get near the line, before a well-executed tap move from the forwards saw them drive over in the corner, the conversion was missed, 5 – 7

Warrington came firing back immediately, their ferocious defence forcing a knock on from Wirral, another planned set piece move from the scrum saw a repeat of the first try, the ball went from 9 to 10 to Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd) who too much pace for the defence and went around them to score in the corner, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) nailed a beautiful kick from the touchline, 5 – 14

Again Warrington kept allowing Wirral to counter ruck and gave up possession from kick off, but their determined defence saw them repeatedly repel attacks and push Wirral backwards, but again they struggled to stay on the right side of the referees interpretation of decisions and again a series of penalties for Wirral allowed them to get to the Warrington line before driving over for a try, the try was converted, 12 – 14

The game didn’t go much beyond either teams 10 meter line for most of the rest of the hand as the defence were on top and possession went back and to between the teams, but both teams seemed determined to smothering the attacking intent of each other. But eventually a breakthrough was made and it was Warrington that delivered it, they had a lineout, another set move saw the back break away and head towards Wirral’s corner, a great tackle stopped them, but Warrington were flooding forward in support, as the ball was recycled it went to Charlie Howson (Sponsored by Sigma Solutions) who could have gone himself, but spotted Charlie Bennett (Sponsored by The Emerald Crew) hitting a great line, he would have been hard to stop from that distance anyway, but the quality of the line meant no defender could touch him as he went through to score, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) converted, 12 – 21

It seemed like that was it for the half, but there was time for the kick off, and unfortunately for Warrington, the same pattern struck with the ball in their possession in their 22, and they fell foul of the referee, another series of penalties allowing them to get close to the Warrington line, awesome defence from Warrington saw them keep out phases after phases from Wirral’s forwards, before they changed tactics, got the ball wide and scored in the corner, conversion was missed, 17 – 21

The first 10 minutes of the second half, saw another great arm wrestle between the teams, but with defences on top, gradually Warrington were pushing Wirral back with the ferocity of their defence, but then Wirral struck with a great try, the number 10, under extreme pressure from Warrington, hit a great cross field kick, and Wirral’s right winger, who played well all day, outpaced the Warrington defence, gathered the kick and raced away for a try under the posts, try was converted, and Wirral led for the first time in the match, 24 – 21

Warrington came storming back at Wirral and had the better of the territory as the rest of the game was predominantly played in the Wirral half, and despite improving in their discipline in not giving opportunities to be penalised, they hadn’t improved their rucking, meaning they were under pressure at most breakdowns, and lost possession more than once to Wirral’s brilliant counter rucking. It was one such occasion that led to Warrington regaining their lead however, Wirral won the ball, but Warrington’s pressure defence forced a knock on, the backs pounced, got the ball wide and nearly scored, but more good Wirral defence stopped the initial break, but again great support play, saw Tai Beddall (Sponsorship Available) pick the ball up from the ruck, and he had too much power for the defence to stop and went over the line, the conversion was missed, but Warrington regained the lead, 24 – 26

There was a late scare for Warrington, as they were penalised close to their 22, allowing Wirral to kick for the corner, Warrington repelling the first attack, but being penalised again, giving Wirral another kick to the corner, they then made their job more difficult as frustrations spilled over and Warrington received a Yellow card, reducing them to 14 for the rest of the game. They were under pressure, but as they often have this season, they backed each other in defence, they got under the maul and held the ball up, they kicked clear with a goal line drop out, and then forced another turnover with their defence, from this possession that they finished the game off. Tai Beddall (Sponsorship Available) picked and went and nearly broke clear but for a great tackle, as he was going down, he spotted Logan Jones (Sponsored by The Brass Monkey) supporting him, running at full pace and got a great offload away, it was the pace Logan hit the line at that did the damage, the defence weren’t able to react and he streaked away for a try under the posts, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) converted, 24 – 33

A well-deserved, and hard earned victory for Warrington in the end, they made hard of it at times, and they have things to work on to improve, but their defence was again incredible and gave them a platform to work on, and it was pleasing to see tries scored that reflect the work being put into training.

Man of the Match: Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) captain for the day, and delivered a captains performance, he unleashed the back line for some great tries, kicked brilliantly, and was phenomenal over the breakdown, often being the first, and sometimes only, player there for Warrington, they would given away many more turnovers if it wasn’t for Will’s efforts