Wheelchair win at Magic

• Wigan Warriors Wheelchair put in a fantastic display to beat London Roosters at the Wheelchair Magic Weekend in Manchester.
• Declan Roberts was in fine form with five tries and seven goals.
• FT | Wigan Warriors 54-10 London Roosters.

Alongside Magic Weekend in Betfred Super League, it was also Magic Round for our Wheelchair team on Saturday as the National Basketball Centre hosted a full round of Wheelchair fixtures.

Wigan faced London Roosters in Manchester, and having put Halifax Panthers to the sword in the previous round, confidence was high. Despite the confidence, it was a slow start by Wigan as they gifted possession to their opposition on the back of several errors. Only some solid defence kept the Roosters at bay in the opening quarter.

It took until the 17th minute for the Cherry & Whites to break the deadlock, Declan Roberts crashing over for his first try. With two more tries soon after, Roberts completed his hat-trick in just over 10 minutes, but with just one successful conversion, the score was only 14-0.

Having now settled into the game, the Warriors had full control and were able to increase their lead. Now turning provider, Declan Roberts released Lenny Izzard down the right flank where he was able to touch down in the corner.

Having started on the bench, Phil Roberts was brought onto the court and was able to set up Adam Rigby with a pin point pass. With another success from the kicking tee, the half time score was 26-0 to the Warriors.

Having soaked up the pressure, the Warriors were able to get back on the front foot with another try after the restart. With a neat kick through from 10 metres out, Declan Roberts chased down his own kick and was able to beat the defenders to the ball before touching down.

Also entering the game from the interchange bench, Martin Norris was next on the score sheet. On the back of a Phil Roberts punt, Norris used his pace to outstrip the Roosters players to score his first of the afternoon. Declan Roberts added the extras to make it 36-0 with 50 minutes gone.

Following that up, Norris was on the end of a cut out pass that caught out the London defence. Despite having to reach for the pass, Norris collected the ball and rolled in for his second, and Wigan’s eighth try of the game.

The men in Cherry & White, on the back of some sustained attacking pressure, were soon in again, this time Jack Heggie taking advantage of a slow retreating defender to snatch a try. Putting the game firmly out of reach, and taking Wigan past the half century, Declan Roberts reached out to score his fifth try. He then slotted over his seventh conversion to make it 54-0 with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Having kept the opposition scoreless for over 75 minutes, the Warriors were hugely disappointed to have allowed London to score two late tries. Lewis King and Joe Coyd crossing the line to score, with Coyd also adding the two conversions. This was enough to take the final score to 54-12.

Wigan Warriors: Chris Greenhalgh, Jack Heggie, Declan Roberts, Adam Rigby, Shaun Gash.

Interchanges: Martin Norris, Nathan Roberts, Phil Roberts, Mark Williams, Lenny Izzard.

Tries: D.Roberts (5), Izzard, Rigby, Norris (2), Heggie

Goals: D.Roberts 7/10

London Roosters: Tom Coyd, Lewis King, Joe Coyd, Jack Linden, Steve Sampher. 

Tries: King, J.Coyd

Goals: Coyd 2/2

Coaches reaction

After the game, Phil Roberts was in good spirits about his side’s performance, “I was very proud of our defence today. We didn’t complete well in the first quarter of the game and presented London with plenty of opportunities, but were able to handle everything they threw at us. That laid a platform for some well worked tries and it was very pleasing to get time on court for some of our younger and newer players. We have a week off now and are looking forward to what should be an enthralling game at Leeds on 23rd July”.