WARRINGTON vs ORRELL ANVILS

The end of this game saw everyone reach for their Rules Book as despite crashing to defeat Warrington will be awarded the points for the match.  With the Anvils leading 11pts-8 and 20 minutes remaining the referee sent an Anvils prop to the sin bin.  Orrell were unable to field a replacement prop and the Regulations state that in such an instance they immediately forfeit the game.  Whilst this would be an unsatisfactory way of gaining 2 points there is nothing either club can do about it and the outcome keeps Warrington in the promotion race.

The visitors seized the early initiative kicking a penalty goal in the first minute of the game after Warrington strayed offside.  They retained ball possession well in the early stages and it was rather against the run of play when Andy James kicked a penalty to level the scores after 20 minutes.  However, the Anvils hit back and a chip through was poorly dealt with by the home defence and a try was conceded, with the conversion attempt being charged down.

Warrington fought back and slowly got into the game and it was no surprise when they got the equalizing score when Andy Almond squeezed over in the corner after good work by Peter Cannon who exposed a gap on the blind side.  A needlessly conceded penalty on the stroke of half time saw the visitors lead by three points.

Although Warrington pressed hard after the break several loose passes and poor handling meant they were unable to put the visitors under any sustained pressure.  A wayward pass was intercepted by the Anvils stand-off and he raced in under the posts to take the visitors 10 points clear.

Andy James’ penalty with two minutes remaining gave Warrington hope of snatching a draw in the actual match but the minds of players, officials and the crowd itself had already turned to coming to terms that the match result had already been decided twenty minutes from the end with the Anvils failure to supply a front row replacement

************

Back to 1st Team Fixtures