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   Warrington Wizards 22 Swinton 34
by Ian Rigg
The Lions may be in the hat for the next round but the were given a massive scare by the Wizards and were made to work hard for their victory. The Wizards had the first chance in the fourth minute when former Lion Warren Ayres kicked for the corner and Gavin Dodd just won the foot race to ground the ball dead in goal with Danny Shaw in hot pursuit. Swinton Lions then moved upfield and got into a good attacking position but Dana Wilson lost control of the ball in the final ten. There was another chance for the home side when Shaw sent David Yii away down the right side only to be pulled back for a forward pass, but it was the Lions who took the lead on twelve minutes when Sam Reay slipped a short pass to Dave Hull and he scored in the corner but Dodd was unable to convert. There were another couple of chances for both sides when firstly Anthony Stewart had a chance for the Lions but again the ball went to ground in the final ten and then Wizards player coach Chris Campbell kicked for the corner for Yii but Dave Hull was on hand to stop the danger for the Lions. The homeside took the lead on twenty-one minutes when the impressive Jono Smith crashed over from short range near the posts and Ayres added the simple conversion. The lead though was short lived when the Lions went back into the lead five minutes later when Chris Hull sent Dave Hull over again in the corner and this time Dodd added the conversion. They went further ahead soon afterwards when Chris Hull again was the provider to send Rob Foxen over on the right and Dodd again converted to give the Lions a ten point advantage. There was a bit of controversy seven minutes from the break when Dave Hull was red carded by referee Brandon Robinson for what could have been a spear tackle or lifting on Yii on the far side of the pitch. The man advantage put the Wizards back on the attack in the final minutes of the half and the blew a golden chance when Ayres sent out a pass to Stuart Pirrie on the wing but the ball sailed behind him and straight into touch. The Lions lost Neil Rigby to the sin bin in the forty-third minute when he charged down the kicker and again this put the home side on the attack. In the final tackle Ayres launched a bomb kick which seemed to bounce off Reay and was collected by Dodd, who was just in front of him, but play was waved on and the Lions moved down field and this ended with Wilson crashing over for a try by the posts and Dodd converted. Three minutes later they were in again when Watson sent out a short pass to send Dodd over for the try and the same player added the conversion. Wilson then went close again before the try of the match came when Reay made a break down the left and passed to the supporting Gary Hulse and he slipped the pass to Foxen and he raced away to score under the posts with Dodd converting. The Wizards then started a remarkable fightback when firstly some weak tackling by the Lions allowed Shaw to score on the right and Ayres converted and then Pirrie raced away down the left to score in the corner three minutes later but Ayres could not convert and finally Shaw added his second after a great run by Smith down the right and the centre raced away to score and Ayres added the conversion with all these points being scored in a five minute period. The Lions tried to come back again but a wild pass in the final twenty put the Wizards on the attack again and they had a another good chance three minutes from time when Ayres kicked through towards the line for Smith but he knocked on over the line but it was all too late for the home side and the Lions claimed victory. Teams : Wizards :- 1.Chris Campbell 2.David Yii 3.Danny Shaw 4.Matt Taylor 5.Stuart Pirrie 19.Ian Stephenson 7.Warren Ayres 8.Tom Wild 9.Wez Lawton 10.Matt Clarke 11.Scott Davidson 12.Jono Smith 13.Alan Redicliffe Subs (All Used) 14.Anthony Braide 15.Carl Leach 16.Shaun Gilmour 17.Nick Braide Tries : Smith (21), Shaw (63,68), Pirrie (66) Goals : Ayres ¾ Lions :- 24.Gavin Dodd 5.Dave Hull 3.Sam Reay 27.Anthony Stewart 23.Rob Foxen 20.Chris Hull 7.Ian Watson 16.Dana Wilson 1.Richie Hawkyard 21.Chris Tyrer 11.Tommy Grundy 12.Paul Smith 19.Neil Rigby Subs (All Used) 13.Aaron Smith 14.Gary Hulse 17.Andrew Isherwood 15.Lee Wingfield Tries : D.Hull (12,26), Foxen (29,55), Wilson (47), Dodd (50) Goals : Dodd 5/6 Sent off : D.Hull (33) throw in tackle Sin Bin : Rigby (43) charging down the kicker Prog Score : 0-4,6-4,6-10,6-16,6-22,6-28,6-34,12-34,16-34,22-34 Ref : Brandon Robinson Att : 430 Pens : 11-10 H-T : 6-16 Men of Match Wizards : Jono Smith Lions : Sam Reay Game star : Sam Reay the Lions centre who was involved in a lot of the Lions attacks and created two tries for his team and had to work hard in defence after losing his wing partner in the first half. Gamebreaker : The Lions three tries in the first eight minutes of the half which was just enough to take the game away from the Wizards despite the fightback in the later stages. Coaches comments : Paul Kidd - "We are in the draw for the next round and these games are never easy for the professional clubs and it was a good game but it was just a shame that the game could not flow properly. "The Wizards played very well and its always difficult against this type of opposition and maybe a few sides will find that out over this weekend. "At one stage it looked like we would run away with it but they staged a good fight back and we had to work hard in the end." Chris Campbell - "From one to seventeen and all the coaching staff we have really given it our best shot today and I think we gave them a scare in the second half, but there was one decision early on when they seemed to take the ball in a offside position in their own half and they went away to score, but our fight back was fantastic and if we had managed to get the ball down a few minutes from time we could have set up a good finish, but I am very proud of what we did tonight." Photo: Rob Foxen takes the ball in for Swinton. Image by Peter Green Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
