Newton Storm 34
Warrington Wolves IMBRL 22
@ Newton Cricket Club - 28/04/07 - NWC6

Warrington travelled to Newton hoping to complete a league double over the Storm, who in turn required a third straight victory to complete a sixth placed finish.

After a very tough midweek fixture at Moss Bank in which the Wolves performed admirably they were back in action again, just four days later with a battered a bruised team as numerous players took to the field of play with injuries.

Even so IMBRL were in a confident mood believing they had what it took to complete the double having despatched the Storm at home 15-12 in November.

The game was also important in a survival sense for the visitors who were under the impression they needed to finish the season in tenth place in order to avoid a drop to a newly formed division seven.

In the glorious summer sunshine things started reasonably well for the visitors who had plenty of possession on the Newton line but they were unable to find a way through.

As it was Newton then hit the front with two unconverted tries to give them an 8-0 advantage before former Storm player Matt Lawton picked off a wayward pass to race 60-metres for an interception try, which gave the Wolves hope.

They were soon level too as Andy Hawley found Stephen Lenihan with a training ground move before a converted try by Newton gave them a 14-8 interval advantage.

Once again the Wolves levelled up the match as Jawaad Adonis surged over just moments into the second-half and Hawley was able to goal for the first time to make it 14-14.

Two further unconverted tries for the Storm looked to have given them an upper hand before another interception try, this time from Liam O’Brien gave the visitors a further chance.

However a converted try for the Storm gave them a 10-point buffer before Karl Case’s try and a further six-pointer from the Storm brought an end to the enjoyable proceedings.

The tough game had more consequences than just defeat for IMBRL who lost Mick Austin (broken wrist), Kyle Holcroft (fractured knee cap) and Jon Westwood (knee ligament damage) during the course of the game. All of whom later needed hospital attention.

Not for the first time this season, Warrington’s opponents gave their man of the match to 19-year-old powerhouse prop Jawaad Adonis who has taken division 6 by storm since making his debut in March.

Wolves: Mick Austin, Tom Mahoney, Stephen Lenihan, Gareth Edwards, Kyle Holcroft, Andy Hawley, Karl Case, Neil Ashurst, Liam O'Brien, Jawaad Adonis, Jon Westwood, Jonathan Knight, Mark Moore. Subs: Rick Lenihan, Paul Arnison, Matt Lawton, Dave Heathwood.
Tries: Lawton, S. Lenihan, Adonis, O'Brien, Case.
Goals: Hawley.