Warrington Wolves gained a last-gasp 22-20 victory against Wakefield Trinity at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon, coming from behind virtually from the start of the game to snatch victory with 90 seconds remaining with a try from winger Tom Lineham.
It completed an Easter period of six points from three games for the Wolves, while it was Trinity’s third successive defeat.
And yet for so much of the game it looked as though Trinity would hold on for victory.
They took the lead after seven minutes with an Ashley Gibson try, and added to it three minutes later when Mason Caton-Brown went over, with Liam Finn converting both tries.
When Ryan Atkins touched down, but the video referee rejected the try for offside, it looked like it might not be Warrington’s day.
But on 22 minutes Atkins raced 60 metres to touch down with Declan Patton’s conversion making it 6-12.
Kevin Brown joined the fray on 29 minutes and almost put Harvey Livett through, but was pulled back for a forward pass.
Finn added a penalty before half-time to make the score 6-14.
In the second half Tom Johnstone scored a try from a great pass by Jacob Miller and Finn’s goal increased the margin to 14 points with 30 minutes remaining.
But there was hope for Warrington when Chris Hill forced his way over on 55 minutes, and when Brown sold a dummy and touched down with ten minutes remaining, with Patton converting both tries, the margin was down to two points.
But the clock was ticking down until the Wolves created a superb move down the left wing for Lineham to score, and the crowd had an anxious wait for the video-referee to check the try, but the cheering from the home fans when it was awarded showed their relief as much as their excitement.
Wolves: 1 Stefan Ratchford, 3 Rhys Evans, 28 Harvey Livett, 4 Ryan Atkins, 2 Tom Lineham, 22 Declan Patton, 7 Kurt Gidley, 8 Chris Hill, 15 Brad Dwyer, 10 Ashton Sims, 24 Benjamin Jullien, 12 Jack Hughes, 13 Joe Westerman; Subs: 6 Kevin Brown, 16 George King, 18 Andre Savelio, 23 Joe Philbin.
Trinity: 21 Max Jowitt, 5 Ben Jones-Bishop, 15 Ashley Gibson, 24 Mason Caton-Brown, 2 Tom Johnstone, 6 Jacob Miller, 7 Liam Finn, 8 Anthony England, 9 Kyle Wood, 20 David Fifita, 32 Dean Hadley, 12 Danny Kirmond (C), 16 Tinirau Arona; Subs: 14 Sam Williams, 17 Craig Huby, 23 Keegan Hirst, 27 James Batchelor
A full report, photos and analysis of this match will feature in Monday’s League Express.
