Danny Walker leads Warrington Wolves to victory on Whitehaven’s big day

WHITEHAVEN 4 WARRINGTON WOLVES 44
JORDAN WEIR, Ortus REC, Saturday

WARRINGTON secured safe passage to the fourth round of the Challenge Cup, scoring eight tries on their first trip to Whitehaven in over two decades in front of a bumper Cumbrian crowd of almost 4,000.

There will be some areas coach Sam Burgess wants to improve heading to their Super League opener but Wire were comfortable throughout the contest against League One opposition.

They scored their eight tries at regular intervals, with two each for Danny Walker, new signing Oli Leyland, Jake Thewlis (his first two for Warrington in his second senior appearance) and fellow youngster Cai Taylor-Wray.

Walker opened the scoring by scooting his way over from dummy-half after Warrington were gifted field position with a Whitehaven knock-on and a penalty in successive sets.

That became back-to-back tries as Leyland took full advantage of a further knock-on from Haven with the elusive halfback able to find the try-line.

The game continued in the same vein with Warrington on top in all aspects of the game, but Whitehaven’s defensive line wasn’t breached again until seven minutes before the half-time break when Thewlis dived in the left corner following a fantastic pass over the top from fullback Taylor-Wray.

Wire grabbed their fourth just before half-time with Walker able to use his pace to break the line and run 25 metres untouched to grab his second of the afternoon.

Stefan Ratchford converted three of the four first-half tries for a 0-22 scoreline.

It remained a constant onslaught from the visitors in the second half, which started with a break down the middle resulting in a trip from Haven winger Jay Weatherill and a yellow card.

The visitors spurned their opportunity from the resulting penalty by dropping the ball, but then Haven’s Chris Taylor did likewise and Thewlis took advantage to score his second of the afternoon.

Warrington capitalised on the sin-binning of Weatherill for their sixth try, easily collecting a kick to his left wing before Ratchford attacked that edge, finding Taylor-Wray in space for a long-range try.

Josh Thewlis took over the kicking duties, nailing the extras on offer for each of their final three tries.

Whitehaven, undeterred by the scoreline, then had their best passage of play around the hour mark.

First they forced a goal-line drop-out and Brad Brennan was held up on the resulting set by stern Warrington defence, then Ethan Bickerdike looked to be heading towards the touchline before getting his arm free and offloading to Jordan Burns, who passed back for a Weatherill try.

But the final words of the game went to the visitors with Taylor-Wray and Leyland each crossing for a second time.

GAMESTAR: Wire hooker Danny Walker was dynamite with his side having the lion’s share of territory and possession.

GAMEBREAKER: Walker’s second try before the half-time hooter gave the score a comfortable look it didn’t deserve.

MATCHFACTS
WHITEHAVEN
1 Jordan Burns
2 Mitchell Todd
3 Chris Taylor
4 Ethan Bickerdike
5 Jay Weatherill
6 Kieran Tyrer
26 Jack Newbegin
8 Jake Pearce
14 Luke Collins
10 Jordan Thomson
11 Connor Holliday
19 Rio McQuistan
13 Jack Kellett
Subs (all used)
16 Brad Brennan
9 Ellison Holgate
15 Mason Lewthwaite
18 Aaron Turnbull

Tries: Weatherill (59)
Goals: Tyrer 0/1
Sin bin: Weatherill (42) – trip

WOLVES
23 Cai Taylor-Wray
2 Josh Thewlis
33 Arron Lindop
4 Rodrick Tai
28 Jake Thewlis
19 Stefan Ratchford
18 Oli Leyland (D)
16 Zane Musgrove
9 Danny Walker
13 Luke Yates
21 Adam Holroyd
26 Dan Russell (D)
22 Tom Whitehead
Subs (all used)
34 Ben Hartill
8 James Harrison
24 Max Wood
27 Luke Thomas