Wolves U20s Off To Winning Start
Huddersfield Giants u20s 6 Warrington Wolves u20s 56
By Dave Whalley
Warrington Wolves Under 20s belatedly got their 2012 Valvoline Cup campaign underway with a ruthless away performance to defeat Huddersfield Giants on Thursday evening.
The Wolves, who had seen their opening two fixtures postponed due to frozen pitches, dominated from the opening exchanges and scored some quality tries in very difficult conditions on a wet and cold night.
The scoring was opened in the second minute when quick hands put the Wolves in good position and second row Ben Currie powered his way over wide on the left for an unconverted try and six minutes later a charge down by the Wolves saw hooker Brad Dwyer pounce on the loose ball and send Currie on a forty metre run; a couple of quick play the balls had the Giants on the back foot and stand off James Mendeika and centre Ryan Shaw combined well to put winger Danny Birkett over in the left corner for a debut try. Scrum half Gareth O'Brien added a fine touchline conversion.
The Wolves increased their lead when a penalty on the Huddersfield line saw Dwyer dummy twice before going on his own to score on the left; O'Brien goaled and then great work from the restart by prop forward Chris Hill and Currie forced the Giants into giving away a penalty and when the ball reached loose forward Tyrone McCarthy he cleverly chipped behind the defence and winger Gene Ormsby was quickest to react to score in the right corner.
Midway through the half the Wolves scored again when a brilliant short ball from McCarthy sent Hill through a gap and he went forty metres before finding Mendeika in support who raced away to score in the left corner and then just before the half hour Dwyer dummied his way over at the side of the posts after Mendeika had been held just short. O'Brien converted the latter to give his side a commanding 30-0 interval lead.
A minute into the second half the rampant Wolves increased their advantage when McCarthy pounced on a Giants handling error and a quick play the ball had the Huddersfield defence stretched and the ball was swept along the line to Shaw who scored in the right corner and five minutes later Hill was held just short and substitute Liam Hulme, with his first touch of the ball, went from dummy half and burrowed his way over at the side of the posts to give O'Brien a simple conversion.
More expansive play from the kick off by the Wolves saw the ball spread the width of the field to reach centre James Saltonstall and he brushed off four defenders on a fifty metre run to score in the left corner. O'Brien added the extras and the half century was brought up when a switch play by Hulme saw him combine with Mendeika down the blind side and a long cut out ball from Mendeika found Birkett who went over for his second try in the left corner.
The Giants were rewarded for their efforts when good hands in the Wolves twenty metre area created room for full back Aaron Murphy to put second row Matty Sarsfield over on the left. Stand off Ben Whitehead added the conversion but then three minutes from time Dwyer went on his own from dummy half to complete a fine hat trick of tries. O'Brien converted to round off a very impressive 56-6 win for the Wolves.
After the game Wolves Under 20s Head Coach Richard Marshall said: "It was good to get our season up and running after two postponements; we knew that Huddersfield would be coming into the game in confident mood after a good win against Widnes Vikings last weekend and it was imperative that we got off to a good start and we did that. We were very clinical despite the poor conditions and the lads really enjoyed themselves. The most pleasing aspect was how we physically dominated the opposition and on the back of this it enabled us to really turn on the style when we had the ball in hand. Our discipline did slip slightly in the second half and on the back of this Huddersfield were able to build up a bit of pressure but we defended resolutely right upto the final whistle.
"It was pleasing to have Gareth O'Brien back after a long injury lay off, Brad Dwyer was the catalyst for all that we did with the ball and his kicking game was very effective. Ben Evans and Chris Hill set a real solid platform for us with some strong attack and defence and this was carried on by Glenn Riley when he came on the field. Next week we entertain Hull Kingston Rovers at Wilderspool Stadium, kick off 2.30pm and that will present us with a different challenge but one that we are looking forward to and we will go into it with confidence."
Huddersfield
Aaron Murphy, Elliott Gorman, Ryan Bradbury, Joel Farrell, Freddie Walker, Ben Whitehead, Alistair Leek, Tony Tonks, Shaun Lunt, Josh Johnson, Matty Sarsfield, Jack Carvell, Joe Fox.
Subs: Joe Walker, Scott Farnsworth, Ross Peltier, Danny Kean.
Tries: Sarsfield
Goals: Whitehead 1 from 1
Warrington
Jordan Burke, Gene Ormsby, James Saltonstall, Ryan Shaw, Danny Birkett, James Mendeika, Gareth O'Brien, Chris Hill, Brad Dwyer, Ben Evans, Ben Currie, James Laithwaite, Tyrone McCarthy.
Subs: Liam Hulme, Jack Morrison, Glenn Riley, Danny Bridge.
Tries: Currie, Birkett (2), Dwyer (3), Ormsby, Mendeika, Shaw, Hulme, Saltonstal
Goals: O'Brien 6 from 11
18, Feb, 2012
