FULL TIME: Celtic Crusaders 6 Warrington Wolves 22 (From This Is Cheshire)

FULL TIME: Celtic Crusaders 6 Warrington Wolves 22

7:46pm Saturday 4th July 2009

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A TYPICALLY strong second half display saw Wolves win their first ever Super League clash at Brewery Field.

After leading only 6-0 at the break, Warrington scored three tries, including two for Richie Mathers, in the 24 minutes after half time to beat Celtic 22-6.

But they were made to fight for every try they scored, every inch they gained, by a passionate Crusaders side who never once gave up the fight yet lacked the quality to genuinely trouble the visitors.

The action was fierce, if slightly chaotic at times, in a defence-dominated game, tackles flying in all over the field to make ball retention extremely difficult.

Warrington in particular failed to meet their own high standards, coughing up possession all too frequently in.

But they did start the game reasonably well, Michael Monaghan providing drive and direction from dummy half, while Jon Clarke, given added creative licence as the playmaking pivot, orchestrated much of Wolves' attacking play.

Although, when the first score came, it did thanks to a thick slice of luck - and some particularly poor defending.

Celtic players dawdled and dallied under a testing high bomb from Simon Grix and Clarke spotted his chance, snaffling the loose ball to make a beeline for the right corner.

Chris Hicks’ touchline conversion made it 6-0.

An all too familiar problem prevented Wolves extending their lead six minutes later.

Taking a pass from Clarke, Grix stepped through the defence and headed for the line but his fumble provided Crusaders with a fortunate escape, giving them a welcome chance to re-group.

Unable to keep hold of the ball in the face of the hosts’ heavy defensive pressure, Wolves conceded soft yardage, while a string of penalties helped Celtic creep towards the try-line.

On-loan St Helens centre Steve Tyrer looked to have gained his side a deserved breakthrough when he dived over the line from dummy half.

But the touch judge decided he had been held up and the Warrington defence stayed strong.

A glorious try-scoring opportunity was bombed when Michael Monaghan’s pass to send Louis Anderson through a gap went forward, while Peter Lupton threw away possession on the try-line at the opposite end.

Celtic kept knocking at the door in the run up to half time but the hardworking Wolves ensured it remained firmly shut.

That very nearly changed six minutes after the break, as Celtic maintained their momentum.

Mark Lennon darted over the line from Lincoln Withers’ pass, only for the cheers of the Celtic fans to be dampened by an obstruction call from referee Thierry Alibert.

As both sides continued to toil away for very little reward, the game cried out for a touch of class to split it wide open.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering their greater depth of quality, the visitors provided that key moment on 52 minutes.

Keeping the ball alive inside the Celtic 20-metre area, Warrington piled on the pressure and Monaghan’s superb offload out the back allowed Mathers to send Ben Harrison crashing over from close range.

Hicks converted and it proved to be the drop that burst the dam.

Five minutes later, Wolves struck again, Chris Bridge bursting through the line 30 metres out to provide Mathers with his first try since a debut double at Featherstone.

Hicks added the extras to open up an 18-point gap.

And Wolves then added a bit of style to the substance provided by their defence, Matt King showing tremendous power and pace to break from his own 40-metre line.

Mathers provided the support and strolled in for his second try of the afternoon.

But, with three minutes remaining, Celtic got the score their efforts deserved, Luke Dyer diving in on the right after claiming Jace Van Dijk's accurate crossfield kick. Lennon converted.

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