The positive signs Sharrock saw in the Wire women’s loss to Leeds

WARRINGTON Wolves head coach Armani Sharrock had nothing but praise for the effort and desire of her young side despite their 50-4 defeat by Leeds Rhinos in the Betfred Women’s Super League.

The Wire, missing several first-team players through injury or unavailability, put in a spirited performance but ultimately the beaten Challenge Cup finalists proved too strong at Victoria Park.

“As disappointing as it is to lose, there are so many positives this week to take away,” Sharrock said.

“There’s a lot to build on from this week and we’ve got something we can believe in going into this week in training.”

One of the positives was Georgia Bogg, who made her debut from the bench, who had the unenviable task of coming up against England international Amy Hardcastle, and the performance of Hannah Roberts, the center on loan from St Helens.

Abi Johnson also impressed her coach with her speed on the sideline and carries down the field.

The home side got off to a steady start in the first few minutes with some strong carries from props Grace Burnett and Abi Latchford and a smart strike from Charlie Magraw which just beat winger Rebecca Nixon in touch.

But it was Leeds who opened the scoring in the fifth minute when center Caitlin Beevers scored her first trick, cutting inside to go under the sticks after Rhinos had worked the ball wide. Hooker Keara Bennett converted to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

Just minutes later, Leeds extended their lead when Jenna Greening put Hardcastle through a huge hole in the home defence. Bennett added the extra again.

Wire took this as a cue to get back into the game and more than make up for it over the next 10 minutes, but just couldn’t find that pass or kick to open up the Rhinos defence.

Mistakes and some poor discipline in conditions that were more akin to November than July also didn’t help the cause.

And it was a kick from full-back Grace Wray that led to Leeds’ next score, with Liv Whitehead first going on a probing run from the scrum, then scrum-half Caitlin Casey slotting the wall wide for to force fullback Evie Cousins. her way to the corner.

Further mistakes were punished by the Rhinos as first Shona Hoyle crashed between the posts, then Ruby Bruce exploited a huge gap in the Wire defense to make it 26-0 at the break.

And any hope of the home side getting back into the game was snuffed out in the early moments of the second half when Beevers went left, then cut inside to score and extend the lead to 32-0.

This was the signal for the home side to start spreading the ball out on the wings rather than taking it up the middle and they enjoyed a good period of possession on the Leeds line which included Latchford being held on the line.

When young prostitute Jasmine Wilson tapped the ball in on the ensuing play, Leeds swept the pitch for Beevers to complete their hat-trick.

Beevers struck again just moments later when Wray and Nixon failed to deal with a high shot from Casey, then Hardcastle completed his own hat-trick either side of a Helena Turner score for The Wire, after Cousins ​​left the ball close to his own line to make the final score 50-4 for the visitors.

Sharrock added: “We were a bit disappointed with the defeat against Huddersfield last week but this week we found something more to believe in and we can build on that in training this week.”

Wolves: Grace Wray; Abigail Johnston, Hannah Roberts, Albany Coates, Rebecca Nixon; Louise Fellingham, Charlize Magraw; Abi Latchford, Ellie Jelves, Grace Burnett, Katie May Williams, Emily Turner, Helena Turner. Replacements: Jasmine Wilson, Megan Condliffe, Lucy Johnson, Georgia Bogg. 18: Lauren Ellison