Wheelchair Reserves succeed at Sheffield

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors Wheelchair Reserves get their first win of the Championship campaign away to Sheffield.
• Warriors scored seventeen tries.
• FT | Sheffield Eagles Wheelchair 24-92 Wigan Warriors Wheelchair Reserves.

Wigan Warriors Wheelchair Reserves bounced back from their opening day Championship defeat with a huge win over Sheffield Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

Having played their first ever game last weekend, Wigan Warriors Wheelchair Reserves travelled through the Peak District on Saturday to face Sheffield Eagles in Round 2 of the Wheelchair Championship.

Report

Right from the kick off, Wigan were looking to use their mixture of youth and experience to gain an advantage. After making contact with a defender, Phil Roberts threw a behind the back pass to Nathan Roberts who scored in the left corner. P.Roberts slotted over conversion to make it 6-0.

The left corner seemed to be the target as Rob Gregson and Chris Greenhalgh scored tries soon after. Gregson, registering his first competitive try for the club, collected a little kick through from N.Roberts, whilst Greenhalgh carried on his scoring streak from Round 1.

Having got the scoring underway, N.Roberts then went on a try blitz to really put the Warriors firmly in control. The first saw a cut out pass from P.Roberts to Greenhalgh, before the ball was thrown back inside to the charging youngster. The next two saw N.Roberts use his chair skills to find a gap and sprint away and score. Three successful kicks now gave Wigan a 34-0 lead within 15 minutes.

The Home side weren’t to be outdone and it was they who recorded the next two tries. Some slick handling had the defence scrambling, but when Stephen Reilly was released down the right flank he raced away to finish in the corner. Chris Haynes scored a similar try about 10 minutes later, but only after a latch ditch tackle by Stuart Ord was deemed to be simultaneous with the grounding.

Showing their years of experience, Greenhalgh and P.Roberts linked up again to put Gregson in for his second. This was quickly followed by Greenhalgh doubling his tally, after a neat wraparound play with N.Roberts, and then scoring the final try of the half, N.Roberts crossed the line for his fifth. Adding 2 out of 3 conversions, P.Roberts took the half time score to 50-8.

Wigan only had 5 players available for this game, whilst the Eagles had a loaded interchange bench. With the Home team making changes, they were soon able to add points to the scoreboard. Flying down the left wing, Will Brooks withstood a strong challenge on the line from Gregson to touchdown and score, sending the healthy sideline support delirious. Unable to add the extras, Brooks was unlucky to hit the crossbar with his conversion attempt.

Getting back into the swing of things after the break, P.Roberts supplied Greenhalgh with a rainbow pass that caught out the edge defence and allowed an easy score. To give other players a chance to practice their kicking, the Warriors try scorer would now take the conversion. Greenhalgh kept the scoreboard ticking over by slotting the ball between the uprights.

In only his second competitive game, Gregson was next over the try line to complete his hat trick. Coming in on the angle, he collected a pass and then managed to evade several tackles before putting the ball down close to the posts. Despite now knowing the way to the try line, Gregson needs more practice from the tee as his kick veered off target.

A replica of his last try saw Greenhalgh score his fourth, but he was unable to match the same result from the tee, leaving the score at 64-12 with an hour played.

Taking his total to seven, N.Roberts firstly went full length after picking up a loose ball, and secondly sprinted down the left flank to beat the cover defence. Converting one of his two tries, N.Roberts took his personal haul to 30 points.

Sheffield kept fighting and were the next team to score, April Brooks the beneficiary of more quick passing. David Butler added the extras to yet more sideline cheers.

Greenhalgh singlehandedly beat the entire Eagles defence with his pace and chair skills, waltzing his way to the line. Following on, he then scored his sixth try of the afternoon, collecting a bouncing ball after a P.Roberts chip kick. Converting both tries, the score was now 86-18.

With 5 minutes left on the clock, there was time for one more try apiece. Some strong ball carries helped set the Eagles up for a crash play, with Jack Johnson obliging and finding his way over. Butler again added the extra 2 points to give his side plenty of positives to take from the game.

The Final try of the game was worth waiting for, P.Roberts using his experience to create a 2 on 1 before releasing Stuart Ord down the right touchline. Ord was able to beat the covering defence to the line and score his first competitive try. Not only that, he then superbly slotted over the conversion with possibly the best kick of the afternoon. Those extras took the final score to 92-24 to the Warriors.

Sheffield Eagles: David Butler, Chris Haynes, Stephen Reilly, Will Brooks, Emma Pearson.

Interchange: April Brooks, Stuart Wilkinson. Jack Johnson, Joe Wink-Simmonds, Ian Pride.

Tries: Reilly, Haynes, W.Brooks, A.Brooks, Johnson.

Goals: Butler 2/4, W.Brooks 0/1

Wigan Warriors: Chris Greenhalgh, Nathan Roberts, Phil Roberts, Rob Gregson, Stuart Ord

Tries: N.Roberts (7), Gregson (3), Greenhalgh (6), Ord

Goals: P.Roberts (7/9), Greenhalgh (3/4), Gregson (0/1), N.Roberts (1/2), Ord (1/1)