Tue, 9th Feb 2010
Cheshire Sport
FULL TIME, PICTURES ADDED: Warrington Wolves 44 Harlequins 34
4:55pm Sunday 13th September 2009
TWO committed teams thrashed out a thrilling final game of the season, with Warrington Wolves coming out on top 44-34 against Harlequins.
Wolves’ supporters, although disappointed the campaign has ended without a shot at the play-offs, produced a party atmosphere as the curtain came down on a season that will always be remembered for the stunning Challenge Cup Final success at Wembley on August 29.
Fittingly, Wolves paraded the cup after the final hooter with all the supporters staying behind to give the players a send off they truly deserved for their year of hard work.
It was also time for goodbyes, with Paul Rauhihi, Steve Pickersgill and Paul Johnson’s Wolves careers having ended today.
Wolves’ head of coaching and rugby Tony Smith spoke to the crowd and emphasised disappointment that the year has not ended with a shot at the play offs.
But he added: “We’ve got one of the two prizes on offer and next year we’re going after both of them.”
The win sealed Wolves’ 10th place in the 2009 table and the enthusiasm and desire shown by both teams meant the game was anything but a dead rubber.
Wolves fought back from 10-0 behind before getting a grip of the clash in the second half.
They could never rest on their laurels, though, and even after taking a 32-16 lead Quins snapped back quickly and the game was only won in the 78th minute.
And it was that man Tyrone McCarthy, after a fairytale month with the first team, who marked his first start in Super League with his first Halliwell Jones Stadium try to kill off Quins.
Wolves fell 4-0 behind after just 68 seconds.
Their short kick-off failed to go the required 10 metres and they were under pressure straight away from the penalty.
Quins worked through tackles on the left before Danny Orr’s kick to the right corner saw Chris Riley and Matt Gafa challenge for the take in the air but the ball fell loose for Tony Clubb to pounce.
A Mickey Higham break led to nothing when his kick ahead for Chris Bridge and Kevin Penny was covered by the Harlequins defence.
Another kick stretched the visitors’ lead in the eighth minute.
Wolves’ defence was broken up with an offload and when Luke Dorn called for a kick behind the line Orr was happy to oblige, with the ball sitting up nicely for the stand off to regather and touch down unopposed. Gafa converted and it was 10-0.
Matty Blythe’s 30-metre break down the middle paved the way for Wolves’ response.
His quick play-the-ball allowed Mickey Higham to scoot away and Chris Riley continued the thrilling surge before Michael Monaghan and Briers combined to send the ball right for Kevin Penny to squeeze past Will Sharp by the corner flag in the 23rd minute.
Wolves were back on level terms when Bridge dummied Briers and dropped off an inside pass for Ben Westwood to shrug off a challenge and blast over. Bridge’s conversion made it 10-10 with 11 minutes of the half remaining.
But Wolves went to sleep three minutes later when Dorn spun off two defenders in a waltz to the sticks and Chris Melling restored Quins’ six-point lead with the successful conversion.
Quins back rower Luke Williamson paid the price for his team’s persistent technical fouls around the play-the-ball when he was sin binned for holding down in the tackle.
And Wolves made the visitors pay when they squared the scores again.
Ben Harrison sucked in four defenders as he powered to the line and then a huge gap opened for Briers to walk over from Alex Thompson’s accurate dummy-half pass, with Bridge’s conversion the final kick of the half.
Wolves took the lead for the first time six minutes into the second half as the volume around the stadium lifted.
Scurrying runs from dummy half and first receiver destroyed Quins for pace and when the ball was flashed wide by Briers Blythe was able to step off his left foot twice to beat the covering defenders. Bridge added the extras for a 22-16 advantage.
The lead was extended to 12 points in scintillating style.
Garreth Carvell produced another of those blockbusting 60-metre breaks that he is gaining a reputation for and from the play-the-ball Thompson danced over from short range for a debut try in the 54th minute. Bridge again added the extras.
Just as Harrison was being carried off the field in a dazed state, Wolves got over the line again.
Monaghan pounced on a loose Quins pass and set the ball rolling down the left.
Some scrappy moments then led to a shift to the right where impressive Bridge shoved off his marker and put Penny over in the corner with a reverse-handed pass. He was unable to convert on this occasion but Wolves led 32-16 with 22 minutes to go.
Quins gave a reminder that they were not about to give in with two tries in three minutes.
Jamie O’Callaghan bagged the first after Riley spilled a chip kick and then Quins had the numbers on the right for Gafa to ease past Riley after he had attempted to intercept Dorn’s long pass. Gafa goaled on both occasions to cut the deficit to 32-28.
Wolves needed to get some possession to stem the tide and they capitalised straight after a Quins knock on on their own 30-metre line, with Mickey Higham scoring with a stretch out of a tackle and Bridge converting for a 38-28 lead with 12 minutes to go.
But Wolves switched off from the re-start.
Richie Mathers was too slow to pick up the ball and Dorn toe-poked ahead and hacked on the loose ball to touch down. Gafa was again on target and it was 38-34 with 10 minutes remaining.
Man of the match Briers was at the heart of the winning score two minutes from time.
He flipped up a pass for McCarthy to crash over from short range and Bridge’s boot banged over the final points of the campaign.
Wolves: Richie Mathers; Kevin Penny, Chris Bridge, Matty Blythe, Chris Riley; Lee Briers, Michael Monaghan; Garreth Carvell, Mickey Higham, Adrian Morley, Ben Westwood, Tyrone McCarthy, Ben Harrison. Subs: Mike Cooper, Paul Rauhihi, Lee Mitchell, Alex Thompson.
Quins: Chris Melling; Tony Chubb, Matt Gafa, Lamont Bryan, Will Sharp; Luke Dorn, Danny Orr; Daniel Heckenberg, Chad Randall, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Luke Williamson, Ryan Esders, Jason Golden. Subs: Luke Gale, Gareth Haggerty, David Williams, Jamie O’Callaghan.
