The Capital Challenge
London Skolars 10 Wigan Warriors 28
Skolars opened 2015 with a friendly against a Wigan Warriors side containing some of their Super League players and their promising Under 19s. The game took place a The Honourable Artillery Company Grounds on the outskirts of the City of London, where dual code international and current England RU assistant coach Andy Farrell, himself a former Wigan star was guest of honour at the pre-match lunch event.
Skolars start their competive games on 1 March and this was their first pre-season friendly.
Though the Warriors conceded size advantage by some way, they showed some good focused attacking moves in the first half
They moved into an early lead when Jamie Doran’s grubber kick to the left wing was perfectly timed for Jack Wells to touchdown. Doran set up the second try as well when a quick pass from a scrum 20 metres from the line created a gap for Jake Moore to score down the left.
Skolars spent a large part of the half defending on a heavy pitch but conceded another try when Liam Paisley pounced on a handling error in the in-goal area from a Moore kick to add a third try. Moore kicking his third conversion.
The second half saw Skolars start to use their size advantage. James Anthony, returning to the side after year in Australia, took an attacking role and after forcing a goal-line drop out, triallist Gavin Rodden forced his way over to open the Londoners’ account with former Hammersmith HillsHoists’ Vince Spurr adding the conversion.
Wigan re-established the three try margin when Liam Paisley was able to roll in a tackle on the line just managing to ground the ball.
Skolars hit-back when Aaron Small gathered a high kick from Tommy Connick, but it was the Warriors who enjoyed the final score when Gabe Fell linked with Wells, who cut through the defence for his second try.
Despite the defeat, Skolars’ Head Coach Joe Mbu took the positives from the first game of the year. “The boys showed and did what we set out to do. I’m pleased with the way we controlled our sets and also how cohesive we were, especially as some of the players hadn’t even trained with us.”
LONDON SKOLARS
1 James Anthony
2 James Carty
3 Kazeem Fatouri-Edwards
4 Aaron Small
5 Saeed Agboke
6 Tommy Connick
7 Vince Spurr
8 Louis Robinson
9 Sam Druce
10 David Williams
11 Mike Benson
12 Anthony Cox
13 Will Fairhurst
Subs (all used)
14 Gavin Rodden
15 Dave Ellison
16 Michael Sykes
17 Dion Chapman
18 Michael Greenhalgh
19 Seb Kolasa
20 Louie Sutherland
21 Matt Lyle
Tries: Rodden (47), Small (60)
Goals: Spurr 1/2
WARRIORS
1 Lewis Tierney
2 Jack Higginson
3 Jake Moore
4 Liam Forsyth
5 Gabe Fell
6 Craig Mullen
7 Jamie Doran
8 Joe Bretherton
9 Josh Ganson
10 Brad Lawrence
11 Rob Lever
12 Jack Wells
13 Kyle Shelford
Subs (all used)
14 Max Dudley
15 Liam Paisley
16 Callum Field
17 Paddy Jones
18 Sam Brady
19 Paddy Casey
20 Lewis Hickford
21 Ryan Haughton
Tries: Wells (5,75), Moore (15), Paisley (34,52)
Goals: Moore 3/4, Houghton 1/1
Penalty count: 3-2
Half-time: 0-18
Referee: James Child
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-18,6-18, 6-22, 10-22, 10-28
