28 January 2011
Up against a side that won the Under 20s Grand Final last season, Skolars rang the changes using 25 players, as Joe Mbu assessed his squad ahead of the start of the Northern Rail Cup campaign. “Having three friendly games has been good for us, especially looking in the last two games at how we play under pressure.”
Skolars game at The Co-operative Community Stadium, Orrell was nearly called off due to heavy frost, with the pitch having to be narrowed before kick-off.
Wigan enjoyed early possession with Sam Powell’s chip forcing a goal-line drop out and the resultant set saw Powell flick the ball outside for Dom Crosby to open the scoring. Skolars forced a drop out from the other end through Dylan Skee forcing a goal-line drop out at the other end, but couldn’t break through the defence. Warriors scored again, following a Ryan King break from deep in his own half lead to a try for Powell, rolling over the tryline after taking a pass from Liam Carberry.
Powell then gave Wigan another strong position for attack with a 40-20 kick. Chris Taylor went over unopposed as Skolars looked to the referee for an obstruction. Carberry pushed over from dummy half and Wigan’s lead was further extended when Carberry broke, feeding the ball for Matt Russell to take the ball on, slipping the ball for Jack Hughes to score.
Skolars got their first points late in the first half. After James Anthony had gone close, a quick pass outside from Gareth Honor saw Ade Adebisi touchdown in the left corner.
The second half was more even. Austen Aggrey created problems for Wigan with some strong running and, after he was held-up, a quick move on the blind side saw Luke May crash over for Skolars’ second try. Wigan then had to defend four sets of six close to their line, holding out as Skee was bundled into touch as he tried to pass the ball inside to Olu Iwenofu. Wigan counterattacked with Matty Russell weaving to avoid several tackles on a 60 metre break. It wasn’t until 65 minutes that Wigan were awarded a penalty in a freeflowing game, Matty Crow breaking through the defence to score soon afterwards.
Saqib Muszard almost scored for Skolars, just grounding a loose bouncing ball short of the line. But with Russell and Powell continuing to make breaks, it was inevitable that Wigan would score the final try, although it was far from the best of the day. A Powell chip was fumbled on the line and Danny Bridge, following up, had only to put a fingertip on the ball to score.
WIGAN WARRIORS
1 Matty Russell
2 Ryan King
3 Jamie Acton
4 Matty Cross
5 Jack Murphy
6 Chris Taylor
7 Sam Powell
8 Dom Crosby
9 Liam Carberry
10 Tom Spencer
11 Jack Hughes
12 Danny Bridge
13 Greg Burke
Subs (all used)
15 John O’Donnell
16 Kiran Harrison
17 Jaydon Samford
18 James Greenwood
19 Connor Farrell
Tries: Crosby (4), Powell (17), Taylor (21), Carberry (28), Hughes (31), Crow(68), Bridge (76)
Goals: Murphy 1/1, Powell 6/6
LONDON SKOLARS
1 James Anthony
2 Smokie Junor
3 Dave Arnot
4 Luke May
5 Ade Adebisi
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
7 Dylan Skee
8 Tony Williams
9 Sam Gee
10 Stephen Ball
11 Jason Hart
12 Matt Thomas
13 Olly Purslow
Subs (all used)
14 Gareth Honor
15 Saqib Muszard
16 James Simon
17 Dave McMeeken
18 Aaron Small
19 Jared Riki
20 Austen Aggrey
21 Oliver Bloom
22 Olu Iwenofu
23 Guy Aldam
24 Aran Quinn
25 Danny Burke
Tries: Adebisi (37), May (43)
Goals: Coleman 1/2
Men of the Match
Warriors: Sam Powell
Skolars: Austen Aggrey
Penalty count: 2-9
Half-time: 30-6
Referee: Warren Turley
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0,12-0,18-0,24-0,30-0,30-6,30-10,36-10,42-10
