Crosfields “A” 22
Warrington Wolves IMBRL 22
@ Hood Lane - 13/05/06 - Friendly

Warrington IMBRL finally shrugged off their tag as a social rugby league team with a fantastic draw against experienced North West Counties opposition in the shape of Crosfields.

The all action friendly game which was played in front of a curious and sizeable crowd at Hood Lane kept everybody enthralled for the full eighty minutes.

As the Wolves contemplate making an application to join the official amateur ranks for the 2006-07 season, the game was ideal preparation and looks to be the first of many against other local sides over the coming months as the IMBRL team look to grow in experience and confidence.

As a side, the Wolves had only previously played once together all year, a match that they lost narrowly 16-14 against their arch rivals Wigan and in truth they looked rusty at the start of the clash coughing up too much ball which helped in no small part to Soap opening up a 16-0 advantage.

However the signs had still been promising for the Wolves who stuck to their task and with their pack looking sharp thanks to fine work by the Ashurst brothers and John Williams they eventually began to turn the tide.

With half-back Andy Hawley and hooker Craig Middlemore looking sharp around the middle of the park it was no surprise that the Wolves started to find gaps out wide which culminated in first-half tries for Matt Lawton (2) and Middlemore. Hawley landed one conversion to leave Soap still in the lead 16-14 at the turn around.

The second-half proved to be a real arm wrestle and defences dominated but it was Crosfields who looked to have gone into a commanding lead when a converted try gave them an eight point advantage.

However the Wolves never say die attitude came to the fore and with sub and debutant Ryan Barnes offering a different approach around dummy-half the Wolves soon struck back thanks to a length of the field interception by another new boy in the shape of youngster Sam Driscoll.

However it still looked at that point, that time would be Warrington’s biggest enemy but there was no telling Lawton that who finished off a fine move in the corner to complete his hat-trick and level the scores. Unfortunately Hawley was unable to goal from the touchline but in the end a draw was a fair result.

On the day the Wolves were best served by hat-trick hero Matt Lawton, Nat Ashurst who topped the tackle and hit-up count and props Neil Ashurst and John Williams. Special praise also goes to the clubs two debutants Sam Driscoll and Ryan Barnes who both made telling contributions.

Wolves
(1) Tom Mahoney (3T, 3HU)
(2) Rick Lenihan (9T, 12HU)
(3) Sam Driscoll (14T, 5HU, 1 try)
(4) Johnny Knight (13T, 4HU)
(5) Matt Lawton (4T, 1HU, 3 tries)
(6) Andy Hawley (7T, 4HU, 1 goal)
(7) Liam O’ Brien (3T, 4HU)
(8) Paul Arnison (2T, 6HU)
(9) Craig Middlemore (12T, 15HU, 1 try)
(10) Neil Ashurst (17T, 8HU)
(11) Jon Westwood (8T, 6HU)
(12) John Williams (18T, 11HU)
(13) Nat Ashurst (25T, 20HU)
Subs:
(14) Darren Middlemore (2T, 6HU)
(15) Ryan Barnes (7T, 3HU)
(16) Mark Moore (2T, 2HU)
(17) Matt Lister (7T)
(18) Kyle Holcroft (7T, 6HU)

* Stats provided by Gareth Edwards