Rhys Williams hat-trick as Warrington Wolves Under 20s sting Wigan Warriors (From This Is Cheshire)

Rhys Williams hat-trick as Warrington Wolves Under 20s sting Wigan Warriors

11:47am Monday 8th February 2010

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Wigan Warriors u20 32 Warrington Wolves u20 38

WARRINGTON Wolves Under 20s produced a stunning second half performance to defeat Wigan Warriors on their own ground in a high quality friendly encounter on Saturday afternoon.

The young Wolves trailed 22-8 after an indifferent first half but they turned the tables in dramatic fashion after the break to snatch victory with Welsh flyer Rhys Williams bagging himself a top drawer hat-trick of tries.

Wolves opened the scoring in the 10th minute when a good ball from stand off Scott Leatherbarrow found hooker Alex Thompson, who rounded a defender before finding second row Lee Mitchell.

He put centre Matty Blythe over wide out on the left but Warriors hit back seven minutes later when substitute Logan Tomkins spotted a gap and went on his own from acting half back to score. Full back Josh Veivers added the conversion.

Wigan increased their lead just after the midway point of the half when a kick to the corner on the last tackle by stand off Stuart Howarth saw winger Stefan Marsh win the race to touch down in the right corner.

Veivers goaled from the touchline to give his side an eight-point cushion but 10 minutes later a kick over the top on the last tackle by Wolves scrum half Gareth O’Brien was well collected by loose forward Tyrone McCarthy.

He found centre James Mendieka who then sent Rhys Williams clear and he fended off an attempted tackle before scoring wide out on the left.

The home side finished the half strongly.

Firstly, a Wolves kick was charged down by second row Chris Tuson and he picked up and went 30 metres before being held just short but a quick play-the-ball saw an overlap on the left and centre Darryl Goulding scored.

And then right on the stroke of half time a nice cross-field chip by Howarth was collected by prop forward Neil Holland who scored between the posts. Veivers goaled the latter to put Warriors 22-8 ahead at the break.

Wolves got back into the game 10 minutes into the second half when substitute Gavin Williams burrowed his way over from acting half back after Mitchell had been held just short.

O’Brien goaled but Warriors capitalised on a Wolves error when a good ball from scrum half Sam Powell found Marsh who broke out of an attempted tackle to score.

Just after the hour mark a nice kick through by Leatherbarrow was fumbled by Veivers and substitute Danny Martin pounced on the loose ball to score but again Wigan replied almost immediately when Goulding intercepted a Wolves pass to score between the posts. Veivers added the simple conversion to make the score 32-18.

Wolves refused to give in and hit back in impressive style when a great ball from the impressive McCarthy found Rhys Williams and he showed tremendous strength to brush off four defenders and score an unconverted try wide out on the left.

And then a long cross-field kick by Leatherbarrow saw winger Kevin Penny rise magnificently to outjump his opposite number and race over. O’Brien tagged on the goal points.

A minute from time good play from Thompson found O’Brien, who broke clear and stepped round Veivers with ease to score on the right and level the scores. He coolly slotted over the conversion to put Wolves narrowly ahead.

When Wigan attempted a short kick off Thompson collected and found Rhys Williams who raced 60 metres down the left wing, brushing off several attempted tackles to score and complete his hat-trick.

The conversion from O’Brien narrowly drifted wide but it mattered little as the referee blew his whistle and Wolves had completed a fine 38-32 win.

Warriors:

Tries: Tomkins (17), Marsh (22, 54), Goulding (36, 65), Holland (40). Goals: Veivers 4 from 6.

Wolves:

Tries: Blythe (10), R. Williams (33, 68, 80), G. Williams (50), Martin (63), Penny (73), O’Brien (79). Goals: O’Brien 3 from 8.

Warriors:

Josh Veivers; Josh Charnley, Karl Pryce, Darryl Goulding, Stefan Marsh; Stuart Howarth, Sam Powell; Eamon O’Carroll, Michael McIlorum, Neil Holland, Ian Thornley, Chris Tuson, Jonny Walker. Subs: Jonny Molloy, Jack Murphy, Jack Hughes, Danny Bridge, Greg Burke, Logan Tomkins, Matty Sarsfield.

Wolves:

Jordan Burke; Kevin Penny, James Mendieka, Matty Blythe, Rhys Williams; Scott Leatherbarrow, Gareth O’Brien; Mike Cooper, Alex Thompson, Adam Neal, Mike Stewart, Lee Mitchell, Tyrone McCarthy. Subs: Jamie Peasnell, Anthony Morrison, Brooke Broughton, Dale Blackmore, Brad Brennan, Gavin Williams, Danny Martin, Chris Fleming.

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