Warriors Wheelchair defeated at Magic

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors Wheelchair fall to defeat to London Roosters.
• It was a close affair at Manchester’s National Basketball Centre for the third Magic Round.
• FT | Wigan Warriors Wheelchair 30-38 London Roosters Wheelchair.

Wigan Warriors Wheelchair fell to a second consecutive defeat at the hands of the London Roosters, this time at the National Basketball Centre in Manchester for Magic Round three.

Hitting the front early, Wigan put the ball through hands which then allowed Mark Williams to touch down in the corner. Adding the extras from the kicking tee, Jack Heggie made it 6-0.

Setting the platform for things to come, London quickly tied the scores when Lewis King crossed the line, before Jason Owen converted.

Adding 6 more points to his sides tally, Heggie scored and converted a try of his own to regain the lead. Another try from London, this time Scott Trigg-Turner chasing down a kick, narrowed the gap, but a missed conversion left them trailing by two.

Putting a run of tries together, the Roosters took control in the remainder of the half and opened up an 18-12 lead by the break. Tries from Jack Linden and a second for Trigg-Turner doing the damage.

Completing his hat trick early in the second half, Trigg-Turner put London 12 points ahead, but this was just the start of a tense period.

On the back of some solid attacking play, the Warriors hit back through Martin Lane. It was some quick passes across court that then gave Adam Rigby the opportunity to find an overlap and release Lane. Heggie again was successful with the kick.

The exchanging of scores continued, King getting his second try in the 65th minute. The movement in the London attack, paired with some panic in the Wigan defence, left a gap for King to roll into and score between the sticks.

Starting to lose their grasp on the game, Wigan needed their experienced players to lead from the front. Heggie and Rigby combined to narrow the gap initially, before London scored from yet another kick chase.

With only minutes left on the clock, the Warriors were now 12 points behind, but another passage of slick handling saw Matt Wooloff pass out the back to Rigby who then beat his opponent to the corner. Making it 5 from 5 from the tee, Heggie brought it back to a one score game.

Receiving possession from the kick off, Wigan were back on the attack and looking to make it all square. Unfortunately, not for the first time, a knock on early in the tackle count gifted the ball to London who then went in to slow motion in an effort to run down the clock.

The last play of the game saw London Roosters add a penalty and take the final score to 38-30. Wigan Warriors Wheelchair next travel to Hull FC on Sunday 9th July.

Wigan Warriors: Nathan Roberts, Jack Heggie, Adam Rigby, Mark Williams, Matt Wooloff.

Interchanges: Chris Greenhalgh, Martin Lane, Reece Duddle, Rob Gregson.

Tries: Williams, Heggie, Lane, Rigby (2)

Conversions: Heggie (5/5)

London Roosters: Lewis King, Jack Linden, Freya Levy, Jason Owen, Scott Trigg-Turner.

Interchanges: Steve Murphy, Amrik Bains, Arun Bains.

Tries: King (2), Trigg-Turner (3), Linden, Owen

Conversions: Owen (5/8)