Courtesy of storm Bert, Warrington’s senior team returned to Bridge Lane for the first time in more than two decades for their semi-final tie against Broughton Park in the Lancashire Trophy competition. Broughton Park were also the last team to play at Bridge Lane before Warrington departed to Walton Lea in 2002, going down 36-18 to a team which included two of Warrington’s present coaching staff, John Callander and Dave Hartill. Incidentally they were also the first team to play at our present home Stockton Lane December 2019 when Warrington won 20-19..

Undaunted by the atrocious conditions, Warrington stuck to their brand of open rugby which nearly put winger Luke Turner in in the corner in the first five minutes. However, it was through the forwards that Warrington opened the scoring two minutes later through middle rower Josh Downes finishing sustained pressure from a succession of pick and drives. 5-0.

From the restart Warrington swept into Broughton Park’s 22 where the visitors conceded a penalty deftly converted by JP Hudson. 8-0 With play predominantly in the Broughton Park half and the ball predominantly in Warrington hands, Broughton Park incurred frequent penalties another of which Hudson converted in the fifteenth minute. 11-0.

In the twentieth minute Broughton Park conceded another penalty on their try line, illegally trying to gain possession of a Matt Beeley chip kick chased down by Hudson. The short penalty was taken quickly with middle rower Jack Barker the beneficiary as he crossed for Warrington’s second try, duly converted by Hudson. 18-0.

Barker was in action five minutes later capitalising on a half break and superb off-load from back rower Austin Carr, but lost his footing in the heavy conditions just yards short of his second try. In the last play of the half, from a scrum on the Broughton Park 5 metre line Warrington seemed to have manufactured a third try but the last pass was forward.

HT 18-0
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The second half, whether some complacency from Warrington with an 18-point lead set in, or a half time talk for Broughton Park gave inspiration, was a different affair. Broughton Park, now playing against the slope, kept the ball in the forwards and with competent recycling, ground out territory to get over the Warrington line two minutes into the half. No score resulted as this had only been achieved by a double movement but ten minutes later, from a line-out in the Warrington 22, Broughton Park stole a leaf from Warrington’s play book and manufactured a try from a short throw to the front of the line.

Broughton Park stuck to their new game plan and it was now Warrington giving away penalties, often for high tackles, which ceded territory to the visitors. They capitalised on this to score their second try fifteen minutes in.18-12.

Warrington’s cushion did not now look quite so comfy and, with twenty minutes to go, a third penalty from Hudson was welcome. 21-12

Warrington, when in possession, we’re still playing their expansive game, but at times, keeping the ball alive came at the expense of accurate passing or even, choosing who to pass to! Broughton Park had a number of near interceptions before they came up with gold with ten minutes to go and romped over between the posts. 21-19.

Another hectic close to the game came with first Broughton Park getting a yellow card with 7 minutes to go, evened up two minutes later with one for Warrington. Hudson converted another penalty from within the Broughton Park half but was overambitious with a second from just inside the Broughton Park half when a kick to touch seemed the better option. 24-19.

Broughton Park returned to the attack, abetted by penalties from Warrington exacerbated by unwanted comments to the referee who awarded the visitors an extra 10 metres. This nearly proved Warrington’s undoing as Broughton Park gained a line-out 5 metres out which gave them a good attacking platform. Fortunately, a Broughton Park knock on in the slippery conditions brought the game to an end and sighs of relief from the Warrington supporters.

FT 24-19

This was a highly entertaining game with both sides showing outstanding handling ability in heavy, wet conditions. Broughton Park were more pragmatic with their game plan in the second half while Warrington’s continued exuberance ensured an exciting, if fraught, finish.

Thoughts of Head coach Richard Park after the game
“We worked hard in training during the week to reinforce the strengths in our game. Line speed in defence and our ability to move the ball wide from breakdowns, at speed, were two focus areas, and it served us well in the first 30 minutes. I think we caught Broughton Park by surprise and it took them almost until half time before they could adjust and get back on the front foot. Our discipline in defence, both in the tackle and around the ruck, loosened off in the second half; but I think our resolve and willingness to play a focussed 80 minutes served us well in the end.”

Referee - Nathaniel Mountain (Manchester & District Referees Society)

Report by Roy Potts WRUFC