Saints v Warrington Wolves

Saints beat local rivals, Warrington Wolves 28-6 at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday evening, as they returned to winning ways!

Saints went for an early kick five minutes in, as Jonny Lomax kicked towards the flying Tee Ritson in the right corner, the ball just about bouncing bed inside Warrington’s ten before he could reach it. Minutes later he was called into action again. Wire broke down their left wing but Ritson’s speed allowed him to catch Matty Ashton and spin him into touch on the visitors’ 40 metre line.

Saints took a deserved lead ten minutes in. Warrington were awarded a penalty which pushed them downfield. They opted to run a play down their short-side but George Williams threw a pass right into Konrad Hurrell’s hands and he ran 40 metres to score in the corner. Jon Bennison was unable to convert, 4-0 Saints led.

The lead increased four minutes later. On the last, after Warrington had held Will Hopoate up short of the line, James Roby fed the ball to Lomax who stepped outside to walk over underneath the sticks. Bennison converted from in front, 10-0.

Another in the first 20 followed. Saints, camped on the Warrington line after Ritson recovered a loose ball from a Lomax kick, kicked on the last through Welsby into their left corner. Hopoate caught Matt Dufty snoozing to pick up and ground the loose ball. Bennison converted from the touchline, 16-0 the hosts led.

Warrington responded five minutes later. A penalty was awarded on the Saints line after Stefan Ratchford had been pulled back, Warrington threw it from left to right and Matty Russell dove over in the corner. Try awarded after video referee review. Ratchford converted, 16-6.

The visitors went close again minutes later. A move through the hands ended up down their right edge and with Russell again, as he broke down the wing he fumbled the ball forward trying to look for an offload on the last.

As the half came to a close, Saints had the final chance. A break downfield from Lomax put Saints on the front foot. Off the back of it Roby ran from dummy half to gain more metres. However, the ball went to ground on the last tackle as Lomax tried to find Hurrell. No score to end the half though, as Saints entered the break deserving 16-6 leaders at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Saints kicked off the second half with a sensational try. The ball was worked left and Bennison threw an outrageous dummy to fool Dufty and jog over the try-line. He was unable to convert his own try, but Saints still led 20-6.

The visitors thought they had responded almost instantly. The visitors were awarded a scrum ten out from the Saints line after a knock on and a few tackles later, Sam Kasiano went over, but the referee ruled double movement so the Red V had a penalty instead.

58 minutes in, the video referee had another decision to make. Another high kick to the corner wasn’t dealt with by Dufty, as the ball was allowed to bounce. Players chased the loose ball and Matty Lees looked to reach out an arm to ground the ball. The referee ruled Lees had pushed the Warrington defender over though, the visitors had a penalty and the verdict was no try.

Saints then had a penalty after Warrington were caught offside on their own line. Joey Lussick, who had shortly beforehand came off the bench, stepped up and kicked the two points, 22-6 to the Red V.

Saints continued to build pressure. Interchange, Lussick, was twice held up inches short of the Wire line. First time he was fed the ball after Saints kept the ball alive, the second he saw a gap on the last which turned the ball over on their one metre line.

Saints thought they had one final score as they entered the final minute. A flowing move from left to right ended with Hurrell finding Ritson who flew over in the corner. It was sent upstairs and the video referee awarded Saints four more points. Lussick nailed the right touchline conversion with the final kick of the game, as Saints beat Warrington 28-6 at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Thursday evening!

Match Summary

Saints Team: Jack Welsby, Jon Bennison, Konrad Hurrell, Will Hopoate, Tee Ritson, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Matty Lees, James Roby, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Joe Batchelor, Sam Royle, James Bell.

Interchanges: Joey Lussick, Lewis Baxter, George Delaney, Wes Bruines.

18th Man: Dan Hill.

Tries: Konrad Hurrell (10), Jonny Lomax (14), Will Hopoate (19), Jon Bennison (43), Tee Ritson (79)

Conversions: Jon Bennison (2 from 4), Joey Lussick (1 from 1)

Penalties: Joey Lussick (1 from 1)

Warrington Wolves Team: Matt Dufty, Matty Russell, Greg Minikin, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Ashton, George Williams, Josh Drinkwater, James Harrison, Danny Walker, Josh McGuire, Ben Currie, Matty Nicholson, Daryl Clark.

Interchanges: Josh Thewlis, Peter Mata’utia, Sam Kasiano, Lucas Green.

18th Man: Luke Thomas.

Tries: Matty Russell (24)

Conversions: Stefan Ratchford (1 from 1)

HT: 16-6

FT: 28-6

Attendance: 14,866