Wigan (1st)
v Warrington (2nd)
- Under 20s Valvoline Cup Grand Final. |
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Match Report |
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In unusually hot conditions for an October day, this was an excellent final between the sides that finished the regular season 1st and 2nd. Warrington had beaten Wigan home and away during the regular season so this was no certain win for the young Warriors that were aiming for their fourth second grade title in a row. Under 20s coach Darren Fletcher named the same starting 13 that took on Wakefield in the semi final last weekend, with the only change on the bench being Matt Crow replacing Scott Leatherbarrow. The match proved to be a war of attrition right from the off with the two packs giving their all against each other. Wigan had an early try disallowed but I think Warrington just about deserved to take the lead when they scored in the 14th minute. Bobbie Goulding, son of the ex Wigan player with the same name, claimed the try after Ben Evans offload sent him over close to the posts. Ryan Shaw converted for 6-0. The match was really tight but for me it was always edging towards Warrington scoring again rather than Wigan getting back into the game. But Warrington suffered a blow on the half hour when winger Chris Fleming had to leave the field following a high tackle from opposite Wigan winger Jayden Sandford. It came after a bomb was put up towards Sandford's wing and he accidentally caught Fleming when trying to jump for the ball. It was more of a flick than a dangerous high tackle but yet Fleming still left the pitch and did not return. I'm not totally sure if that injury turned the match but all of a sudden Wigan clicked into gear and quick as a flash they'd scored two back to back tries. Clean breaks had been rare for both sides but on 34 minutes Ryan King shot out of dummy half to get away. He'd got 40 metres or so but with full back Jordan Burke coming to close him down, he had to let Stefan Marsh finish the move under the posts. Marsh injured himself getting the ball down and that was his game done as well. Jack Murphy converted to make it 6-6. Matt Crow went on to replace Marsh at centre. I was hoping he'd combine for a try with Matty Russell, so I could write about a Russell Crow combination, but alas it wasn't to be. Anyway.......whilst King had made the break for the first Wigan try, he was the support player for the second. Jack Hughes had made the break up the right wing and he offloaded to send King over in the corner. Murphy failed to convert though, but Wigan had the lead for the first time at 10-6. That lead didn't last long though with Wigan perhaps guilty of switching off so close to half time. Ryan Shaw did a clever kick off for Warrington when he grubbered forward into open space and won the race to the ball. Great vision! Seconds later, James Mendieka sent James Saltonstall over in the right corner. Shaw failed to convert so the half time score was level at 10 each. The next 20 minutes continued to be a hard fought forwards contest, the only break coming from a Murphy penalty goal on 49 minutes to make it 14-12. Personally I was frustrated that coach Fletcher wasn't throwing Liam Carberry onto the field but when he did, I think this match turned towards a never in doubt Wigan win. Carberry plays hooker normally but with Logan Tomkins still remaining on the field I think he went on at Loose Forward. It might have been coincidence, but we started to be a bit more direct when he went on and the breaks followed off the back of that. To be fair we were bombing a few chances but we did take one when Sandford scored in the left corner on 64 minutes. Murphy couldn't convert, so the lead was still one score at 16-10. Warrington though were now struggling to get close to our line. Dom Crosby was excellent I thought and well backed up by his front row partners Ben Davies, Tom Spencer and Greg Burke. But Wigan still needed to kill off the game when it ticked down to the final ten minutes and the game breaker came with 7 minutes to go. Hughes went on a lovely diagonal run to score from thirty metres and Murphy converted to make it 22-10. The result was rubber stamped three minutes later when he added a penalty goal for 24-10. Warrington to their credit kept going and scored a good consolation in the 79th minute. Saltonstall broke down the middle and he chipped ahead then outpaced the chasing cover to collect superbly and score in the right corner. Shaw converted well off the touchline, but although four minutes of injury time were added, they never got a chance to score again. So Wigan won to take this title for the fourth year in a row but Warrington shouldn't be too down hearted about this defeat. The extra experience probably did the trick for Wigan in the final quarter with 9 of our 17 having played in this Grand Final last year. It was a great contest overall and that it always pleasing to see at Under 20s level, because it isn't always the case! |
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Team Sheets |
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*Denotes Over Aged Player. Three Over Age 20 Players Allowed Per Team |
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Score Sheet |
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Scoring and Incident Pattern |
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Referee |
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Tom Crashley |
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Penalties Conceded |
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Wigan 11 Warrington 12 |
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Attendance |
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853 |
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Dave Valetine Memorial Man of the Match |
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Matty Russell (Wigan) |