As well as the U16s have played so far this season this was by far their worst performance, writes Graham Henthorne.

Apart from a 10 minute spell in the middle of the first half when they scored two tries and took the lead, they were always vulnerable to the Wolves’ pace outside conceding five tries on the overlap.

The Wolves scored with their first two possessions, one in either corner, to take an eight point lead.

The previously dominant Saints pack were making easy yards down the middle but being totally bypassed when in defence.

The Saints purple patch, small though it was, did produce two glorious tries.

The first was to strong running second row Lewis Baxter who took Lewis Dodd’s pass to finish 10 metres in from the left corner.

The second came from the very next set. As has been mentioned before, the Saints were making yards for fun and this set was no exception as Jamie Pye, Harry Brooks, Ethan Caine and Baxter all rolled downfield.

On the last Dodd took on the line putting Pye through 20 metres out. The big prop trundled his way to the full back and with Harvey McDaid steaming up on his outside he sold the most outrageous dummy to power over under the sticks.

But that was about as good as it got as the Wolves regained the lead with ten to go after a 40/20 caught the Saints out.

Poor tackling in the opening five minutes of the second half saw the Saints 14 points behind, the largest deficit this team has faced this year.

And ultimately that’s probably what defeated them having never been in that position before.

But they didn’t go down without a fight. Another purple patch mid-way through the half saw the Saints back to within six.

Firstly a miss pass from Dodd cut out three players before finding debutant Owen Blackwood who charged into the corner and around for a well taken try.

Five minutes later the Saints got a repeat set thanks to a great chase of a Dodd grubber by Baxter.

On the fifth Dodd put Harvey McDaid down the right and a little show and go saw the full back in at the corner.

But with both conversions missed the deficit proved too much to haul back. Two tries in the last three minutes, one an interception, gave the score a slightly inflated look but the Saints were well beaten.

Best for the Saints by far was Lewis Baxter with both Reece Sumner and Zack Lee impressing off the bench.

Match Summary:

Warrington U16s:
Tries: Connor Wrench (2), Gabriel Payne (5), George Roby (24), Jacob Farrimond (40 & 68), Howard Hackett (48), Sam Thackeray (70).
Goals: Josh Thewlis 5 from 7.

St Helens U16s:
Tries: Lewis Baxter (13), Jamie Pye (15), Owen Blackwood (58), Harvey McDaid (65).
Goals: Lewis Dodd 2 from 4.

Half Time: 14-12
Full Time: 38-20

Teams:

Warrington:
1. Josh Thewlis; 2. Gabriel Payne, 14. Charlie Sutcliffe, 4. Sam Thackeray, 5. Jacob Farrimond; 6. Joseph Barnes, 7. Joseph Kohe-Love; 8. Morgan Burgess, 9. George Roby, 10. Jack Foulkes, 11. Kieran Rennox, 12. David Mills, 13. Connor Wrench.
Subs: 3. Olatumylara Onasanya, 15. Joseph Roper, 16. Alex Pendlebury, 17. Thomas Inman, 18. Callum Woolfenden, 20. Howard Hackett, 21. Luke Broadbent.

Saints:
1. Harvey McDaid; 5. Theo Robinson, 3. Jack Stephenson, 4. Evan Jones, 2. Ryan Appleton; 6. Taylor Pemberton, 7. Lewis Dodd; 8. Harry Brooks, 9. Keenan McDaid, 10. Jamie Pye, 11. Benjamin Betts, 12. Lewis Baxter, 13. Ethan Caine.
Subs: 14. Jamie Duffy, 15. Joe Spencer, 16. Zack Lee, 17. Will Toone, 18. Reece Sumner, 19. Owen Blackwood.

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