SAINTS were literally seconds away from booking their place in the Grand Final before conceding the game winning try to a Warrington side which finished with 12 men after a cynical late hit on play maker Dave Hewitt with three minutes to go, writes Graham Henthorne.
But this is more a tale of chances missed from Derek Traynor’s side who could and probably should have been 20 points clear shortly after the break.
Before the interval, both down the right hand side, Chris Worrall chose to take on the lone full back instead of the easier option out wide and Matty Fleming gave his winger the ball too early giving him little space to work in.
Saints were the first on the board when quick hands down the blind side gave Lewis Galbraith enough space to score.
But the Achilles heel all day, poor defence, allowed the home side to take the lead with two quick tries.
Back came the Saints to level the game with a try from blockbusting forward André Savelio who looked to be finding some form again leading from the front. The Saints were awarded a penalty for a late hit on Danny Richardson and from the tap Savelio charged onto the ball to score.
From the restart two good drives put the Saints on the front foot and allowed Richardson to show his paces with an arcing run which spilt the defensive line. He fed it on to the aforementioned Worrall who bombed the try but three tackles later Olly Davies’ miss pass gave Galbraith his second try and the Saints the lead again.
Savelio was certainly putting himself about and the home side couldn’t handle it giving away a penalty in front of the sticks for punching after a rib-tickling tackle. Charnock converted and the Saints went in eight points to the good.
The second half opened with the Saints again on the attack but two poor passes let the chances go. To compound the errors poor tackling allowed the home prop to trundle 60 metres down the middle to put them right back in it.
A big hit from Matty Fleming forced the knock on in the Wolves 10 metre line and five tackles later Jonah Cunningham dove over into a yawning gap at dummy half to stretch the lead.
Poor handling in our own half gifted a try to the Wolves and the Saints failed to convert territory into pressure or points with a knock on 15 metres out.
The Wolves again gave the Saints possession and after Galbraith had been held short twice the ball was spread wide on the last and Davies arrowed a three man miss pass out to Adam Saunders on the wing who took it over his head and dove over Makinson style to touch down.
But the Saints couldn’t put the home side away and after a suspicious knock on at a play the ball had been missed they again pulled close with a try on the last from a high kick that the Saints should have closed down.
It was nip and tuck for the last ten minutes but as the Wolves threw everything at the Saints in the final minute they got a crucial fourth tackle penalty for holding down from the otherwise impressive Davies which gave them just enough field position to commit the Saints down the middle before spreading it wide left and going in on the overlap for the win.
In truth the Saints didn’t play well but having got so close it was an agonising way to lose.
Next week will see the Saints play the winners of the third/fourth place play off at Langtree for the right to go back to play Warrington again in the Grand Final. But everyone will have to improve massively for that to happen.
Match Summary:
Wolves U19s:
Tries: Jack Johnson, Toby King, Declan Kay, George King, Joe Philbin, Tom Walker
Goals: Harvey Livett 6
Saints U19s:
Tries: Adam Saunders, Lewis Galbraith 2, André Savelio, Jonah Cunningham.
Goals: Lewis Charnock 6
Half Time: 20-12
Full Time: 32-36
Teams:
Wolves:
1. Jack Johnson; 2. Jake Eccleston, 3. Harvey Livett, 4. Toby King, 5. Declan Kay; 6. Declan Patton, 7. Louis Jouffret; 16. Daniel Murray, 9. Sean Kenny, 10. George King, 31. Joe Philbin, 12. Sam Wilde, 32. Tom Walker.
Subs: 14. Robert Holroyd, 15. Andy Philbin, 17. James Jones, 18. Ryan Maneely.
Saints:
1. Ricky Bailey; 2. Adam Saunders, 4. Matty Fleming, 3. Jake Spedding, 5. Lewis Galbraith; 6. Danny Richardson, 7. Dave Hewitt; 8. Phil Atherton, 9. Lewis Charnock, 10. Matty Fozard, 11. Olly Davies, 12. André Savelio, 13. Morgan Knowles.
Subs: 14. Jonah Cunningham, 15. Chris Worrall, 16. Liam Cooper, 17. Joe Ryan.
