Warriors Academy claimed victory at Warrington

• Match report when Wigan Warriors Academy beat Warrington Wolves Academy.
• Josh Cartwright and Austin Daniel both scored two of the Warriors’ eight tries in a high-scoring affair at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
• FT | Warrington Wolves 22-44 Wigan Warriors.

Match report when Wigan Warriors Academy wins against Warrington Wolves Academy

Wigan Warriors Academy scored four tries either side of half-time at the Halliwell Jones Stadium to beat Warrington Wolves Academy.

Josh Cartwright and Austin Daniel each crossed twice, while Jack Purtill, Leo Wadsworth, Dylan Kelly-Duffy and Nathan Lowe also touched down for the Warriors. Jack Farrimond impressed both on the pitch and off the tee, converting six of his eight attempts.

Report

The young Warriors side came blazing out of the blocks, threatening the Warrington defense from the start. That pressure would soon count as Josh Cartwright crashed into the right corner to open the scoring. Jack Farrimond scored a fantastic touchline conversion to give the Warriors an early 6-0 lead.

From the resulting kick, Trent Kelly-Duffy did well to collect the ball as it bounced in front of him, catching the Wolves defense off guard to break away. Despite the forward being caught deep in Warrington territory, the resulting set-piece fell into the hands of Charlie Yeomans, who sent a lovely looping pass to Austin Daniel to touch down and score in the left-hand corner. Farrimond was tasked with hitting from the opposite line this time and his effort narrowly missed the posts.

Over the next 20 minutes, both sides missed chances, with several promising set pieces going begging through handling errors. Eventually, Warrington would make one of their chances count, with a second replay set up for a high tackle ending with Daniel Regan weaving his way through the Warriors defense to score. Joseph Hickey added the extras, cutting the Warriors’ lead to four.

However, Farrimond’s resulting kick would bounce into touch, giving the Warriors a golden opportunity to respond just 10 yards out. With Kian McDermott closing in, the ball found the hands of Farrimond at the final tackle, whose shot was timed perfectly for Cartwright to latch onto and score his second of the afternoon from the right wing. The scrum-half then added the outside extras to remain instrumental in canceling out Warrington’s try.

On the stroke of half-time, Farrimond tried to do some magic again but was thwarted as he tried to follow his own shot towards the Warrington goal line. A penalty was awarded and after Charlie Yeomans went close at power, Jack Purtill pounced from the fake half to score. Farrimond converted to give the Warriors a 22-6 halftime lead

John Dufty’s side continued as they went into the second half, again scoring early. Leo Wadsworth went through the Wolves defense to dive under the posts with Farrimond again good from the tee.

Minutes later, Finlay Yeomans would have given the Warriors another chance to create some breathing space for their opponents as he broke from inside his own half to cross the field and almost go wide before to be attacked. With the set piece in great position, the ball found Dylan Kelly-Duffy who ran through the middle to score. Farrimond converted to take the Warriors over 30 on the day.

However, with more than enough time remaining in the second half, Wolves managed a couple of tries in quick succession to claw their way back into the business. Hickey pounced on a loose ball to score the first, before Lewis Barratt fought off a number of defenders to score the second behind the posts. Hickey converted both to make it 34-18.

Moments later, the game would get even tighter. Cai Taylor-Wray broke through and looked to be going the distance before being tackled, but Wolves would still have taken advantage with Daniel Hackney scoring in the corner. Despite a missed conversion from Hickey, the lead quickly dwindled to just two scores.

With their backs against the wall for a brief but dangerous stretch, the Warriors finally found a way out. With a well worked attack getting them close to the Warrington goal line the ball found Nathan Lowe who broke through the defense and crashed to score on the left side. Farrimond was again good from the tee, taking the Warriors’ total to 40.

With the game coming to a close, the Cherry and Whites would look to secure their victory. Daniel finished off a powerful corner attack to score his second of the game, Farrimond’s conversion hitting the outside post.

Just before the end, an entertaining affair with a score of 44-22 for the Warriors would come to a disappointing conclusion. With tensions high on the pitch, a second brawl between the teams within minutes saw Charlie Yeomans and Cartwright sent off by the referee for Wigan, while Warrington’s Zack Gardner was shown red.

Warrington Wolves: Cai Taylor-Wray, Francis Sargeant, Deacon Connolly, Zack Gardner, Lachlan Webster, Joseph Hickey, Junior Westwood, Charlie McKler, Lewis Barratt, Thomas McKinney, Daniel Hackney, Kian Stanton, Jake Ramsden.

Exchanges: Oliver Morgan, Alfie Mather, Daniel Regan, Samuel Roberts.

18th player: Ben Pearce.

Try: Regan (25′), Hickey (60′), Barratt (62′), Hackney (65′).

Objectives: Hickey (3/4)

Cards: Gardner.

Wigan Warriors: Noah Hodkinson, Josh Cartwright, Finlay Yeomans, Nathan Lowe, Austin Daniel, Charlie Yeomans, Jack Farrimond, Trent Kelly-Duffy, Jack Purtill, Kian McDermott, George O’Loughlin, Lukas Mason, Taylor Kerr.

Exchanges: Leo Wadsworth, Kalum Rathbone, Jack Bibey, Dylan Kelly-Duffy.

18th player: Harlen Smith.

Try: Cartwright (3′, 30′), Daniel (8′, 75′), Purtill (37′), Wadsworth (43′), D. Kelly-Duffy (50′), Lowe (70′).

Objectives: Farrimond (6/8).

Cards: C. Yeomans, Cartwright.

By Harvey Orgill.