Warrington Wizards 38 Coventry Bears 14
Wilderspool Stadium Warrington, Saturday 13th August.
Dispite last week’s win against top of the table Huddersfield Underbank, Coventry Bears had a disappointing game against a spirited Warrington Wizards who showed that they still have the flair that saw them collect the National Championship title last year.
The Wizards opened the scoring in the first minute when a break down the left found the full back who scored near the posts. Warrington converted but then a mistake from the kick off allowed the Bears to respond when straight from the scrum the ball was swept out by Scott Clendenning-Fenton to Stephen Coleman who drew the defence and fed winger Ashley Johnson who scored in the right corner.
The end-to-end nature of the game saw chances galore for both sides and the Bears were unlucky to score again on the right when the ball was judged to have gone forward to Johnson once more.
On ten minutes Wizards went in close to the line and managed to ground the ball on the right, but again the Bears hit back when pressure on the wizards line paid off when standoff Mark Sloan found Stephen Coleman and the impressive centre scored in the right corner.
The frustration then began to take its toll when Bears second row Sam Blaney offloaded in the tackle to Coleman who grounded the ball only for the whistle to blow once more for a forward pass.
This frustration continued as Warrington were allowed to break through and then offload to the Hooker who scored under the posts. He converted his own try to give his side a 18-8 half time advantage giving the Bears work to do in the second half.
The second half started at a fast pace with both sides showing skill to move the ball, then eight minutes into the second half the Bears seemed to lose concentration as they allowed Warrington over close to the line. The try was converted. Soon after the Bears defence was breached again after a penalty saw the Wizards sweep the ball quickly to the right Warrington converted.
The Bears were unlucky not to get on the scoreboard as five minutes of possession and a number of good breaks from Brad Massey and Matt Cooper just fell down at the final play on each occasion as the Warrington defence scrambled.
Ash Johnson was then unlucky once more as he just failed to gather the ball in what would have been an interception which may have swayed the game back in the favour of the Bears.
Four minutes later a break put the Wizards deep into the Bears half and when the Bears were punished for lying-on in the tackle the ball was swept quickly from the penalty to allow the Wizards to score on the right
The Wizards continued to ask questions of the Bears defence having all the possession and they were rewarded once again out wide when they somehow managed to scramble over under the defence in the right corner.
Five minutes from time the Wizards finished the Bears off as they were allowed to power over under the posts.
Right on time the Bears gained a consolation try when impressive Ashley Johnson pounced on a Wizards error and raced eighty metres to score under the posts. Coleman goaled but it was too little to late as the Wizards celebrated a deserved 38-18 victory.
Bears Head Coach Alan Robinson Commented:
We lost our focus today and allowed Warrington to play, they are a talented team and can move the ball well, they are not reigning Champions for nothing. We have missed a massive opportunity today as other results in the table would have allowed us with a victory to have pushed up into 4th position, now we have dropped back down two places to 7th. Next week is now a must win game for us away at Nottingham Outlaws and we must find our form again if we are to challenge for the top 6 and overtake Dewsbury or Valley cougars from 5th and 6th positions.
Conversions:
Wizards-Ayres5/7
Bears-Coleman1/3
Outstanding:
Wizards- Gilmour, Middlemore, Alcock, Reynolds
Bears- Coleman, Cooper, Johnson, Tsang
Referee:John Seymour (Castleford)
Coventry Bears: 1.Tom Tsang, 2.Tanaka Chamunokara, 3.Tim Leishman, 4. Stephen Coleman, 5. Ash Johnson, 6. Mark Sloan, 7. Scott Clendenning-Fenton, 8. Mike Venn, 9. Rob Brown, 10.Dan Walton, 11. Brad Massey, 12.Sam Blaney, 13. Matt Cooper. 14. Alex Brown, 15. Nick Thatcher