Warriors Wheelchair make history
- Match Report as Wigan Warriors Wheelchair beat London Roosters in the Betfred Wheelchair Super League.
- A strong performance for the Warriors on their league debut gained them the two points.
- FT | Wigan Warriors 66-28 London Roosters.
Wigan Warriors Wheelchair made history as they took to the court on Sunday for their first ever competitive fixture as they hosted another newly formed side in London Roosters.
Martin Norris was a star performer, getting four tries on his first outing in Cherry & White, whilst Declan Roberts was faultless from the tee with 11 out of 11 conversions on the afternoon.
Report
London took the lead early on when Joe Coyd rolled through a gap and was able to score under the posts, converting his own effort for 6-0. Quickly hitting back, a cut out pass from Declan Roberts put Matt Wooloff into a scoring position in the right corner. Roberts then added the extras to make it level at 6-6.
London were seeing plenty of the ball in the opening 15 minutes and another try soon followed as Coyd again was able to find a gap in the Warriors defence and score his second. Having taken control, Roberts set up Mark Williams to give the Warriors the lead before making a couple of changes to freshen up his squad.
Declan Roberts went in for his first try soon after, bobbing and weaving away from the defenders, Roberts was able to touch down in the right corner before slotting over a successful conversion to make it 18-10.
Interchange players Martin Norris and Chris Greenhalgh came on to the court and immediately became a thorn in the side of the Roosters. Greenhalgh was put through a gap by Declan Roberts and then Adam Rigby was able to score between the sticks after a neat reverse pass from Norris caught out the sliding defence.
Having just been stopped short of the line, a bit of a melee ensued and a Wigan try was scored, however, it took a bit of discussion between the referees before being awarded. Declan Roberts was the scorer of the try, as well as the following conversion, and the score would remain 36-10 until the half time break.
Pulling on the Cherry & White for the first time, Norris was next across the line with back to back tries, the first assist coming from Declan Roberts and the second from Phil Roberts. Norris did very well to collect the pass from Phil as the ball seemed to be heading to the floor, however, a one handed pick up saw the try scored in the corner.
Having been under the cosh for quite some time, the away side were back on the front foot when Lewis King and Joe Coyd linked up for a blind side play. King was the try scorer, and as Coyd was successful with the conversion the score now stood at 48-16 to Wigan.
On the back of more excellent handling, the combination of Matt Wooloff and Phil Roberts allowed Mark Williams to double his tally and put Wigan past the half century. However, wanting to build on their previous try, Coyd and King were again involved as both players scored a try apiece to narrow the gap for the Roosters and give themselves a confidence boost on the opening day of the season. Wigan led 54-26 as we entered the final 10 minutes.
Having started the half with a brace, Martin Norris was now doing the same at the other end. Charging on to a pass from Phil, Norris crashed through the London defence to complete his hat-trick, before making it four with a solo try as he evaded the tackles and slipped through the line. Declan Roberts made it 11 from 11 from the kicking tee to cap off a fine performance.
The final word went to London Roosters, scoring his fourth of the game Coyd was able to twist and turn away from several would be tacklers before touching the ball down in the right corner. An unsuccessful conversion was followed by the final whistle and brought the score to 66-28 to the Warriors.
Wigan Warriors: Declan Roberts, Adam Rigby, Phil Roberts, Mark Williams, Matt Wooloff
Interchanges: Chris Greenhalgh, Reece Duddle, Martin Norris, Nathan Roberts, Ste Mort
Tries: Matt Wooloff, Mark Williams (2), Declan Roberts (2), Chris Greenhalgh, Adam Rigby, Martin Norris (4)
Goals: Declan Roberts 11/11
London Roosters: Dan Edwards, Ash Archer, Jack Linden, Lewis King, Joe Coyd
Tries: Joe Coyd (4), Lewis King (2)
Goals: Joe Coyd 2/6
After the game, Wigan Warriors Head Coach Phil Roberts said: “Today was a proud moment for everybody in our squad, support staff, and our families, with the opportunity to pull on a Wigan Warriors shirt in a competitive fixture. I’m very pleased with the result and while we lacked cohesion in the first quarter of the game, we’ve identified several areas for improvement. It was great to get the win in our first ever SL fixture, in what was a fast and physical game throughout. Onto next week now, with a big game against local rivals Warrington Wolves.”
Match Gallery:
Wigan Warriors Wheelchair are in action again this weekend, as they face Warrington Wolves at 2:15pm on Saturday 12th March. The game takes place at Liverpool John Moors University and is free to attend.
