Wigan St. Patrick's vs Hunslet Warriors - Match report

WARRIORS SNATCH LATE VICTORY

Hunslet Warriors snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying seconds to claim a 28-26 victory over Wigan St. Patrick’s.

The south Leeds side came back from 16 – 0 down to score a last second try to snare the two points away from the home side.

St. Patrick’s unanswered lead was tallied up inside the first quarter of the game. However, Hunslet had an equalising score ruled out for crossing.

But, the Warriors came back with a vengeance to spark their comeback with two converted tries, only for the Wigan side to nudge themselves ahead before the break to take the scores to 20 – 12.

Hunslet didn’t lie down and got within two points inside the first ten minutes of the second half, only to be denied again by another St. Pat’s try 20 minutes later.

Two tries in the final few minutes was enough to clinch the match points to make it four matches in a row without a victory for Wigan St. Patrick’s.

In monsoon like conditions, St. Pat’s took the lead after six minutes when Earl Hurst squeezed his way over.

Two tries in the space of three minutes for St. Pat’s inside the twenty minute mark from Ryan Smith and Will Boardman increased their side’s advantage.

Lloyd Templeton pounced on a grubber in the in-goal area to get Hunslet on the board and his team-mate, Gary McClelland, threw a dummy and spun away to crash the ball down to get the Warriors within four points.

The conditions reduced the skill level for both sides, but some individual brilliance and determination from the St. Pat’s halfback, Ryan Smith, got Wigan back up and running just before the interval.  

Warriors skipper, Caldon Bravo who led from the front crashed over from short range after eight minutes gone in the second half to, again, keep St. Pat’s on their toes.

The wet weather made this tense affair a classic ‘knock-on-athon’, and it was no wonder it took until the 70^th minute for Wigan’s reply through Anthony Griffiths’ close range burrow over from dummy half.

With Wigan St. Pat’s leading by eight going into the last five minutes, the game seemed finished. But, the Warriors had other ideas.

Karl Featherstone went over under the posts to make the kick easier for Nathan Kitson to be within two points of the home team.

It was Kitson who inspired victory in the remaining few seconds, his intelligent chip over the top was touched down by McClelland for his second try of the game to round of a superb comeback from the Leeds based outfit.