FULL TIME: St Helens u20 30 Warrington Wolves u20 22 (From This Is Cheshire)

FULL TIME: St Helens u20 30 Warrington Wolves u20 22

7:22pm Friday 19th March 2010 in

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WARRINGTON Wolves’ under 20s have lost for the first time season.

They pushed Saints to the wire and fought back from 24-12 to leave the game in the balance until the final minute.

It was quite an arm wrestle in the second period.

Wolves’ defence was vastly improved after conceding 24 points in the opening 40 minutes.

They fended off waves of attacks on their own line but finally conceded the match-winning try in injury time, leaving them with a record of two wins from three games this season.

A brilliant 40/20 kick from Craig Harvey paved the way for the opening try in the fifth minute.

Wolves built the pressure with an extra six tackles from Gareth O’Brien’s deflected grubber and Jordan Burke made Saints pay, finishing off good handling from Liam Hulme and O’Brien. Harvey added the extras.

Saints responded four minutes later when James Mendeika and Kevin Penny both missed the second attempt at a grubber which Tom Armstrong touched down, with Jamie Forster adding the conversion.

After a Saints penalty for offside, Armstrong slipped Penny’s attempted tackle and offloaded from Burke’s challenge for Karl Ashall to put Saints ahead in the 11th minute. Forster goaled again to make it 12-6.

The tit-for-tat scoring continued as Harvey used one man as a foil to steer Jamie Peasnell over the line from close range in the 17th minute and with the stand off converting it was all square again at 12-12.

Saints pulled ahead again with Armstrong leaping highest to claim the ball from a high kick and storm 20 metres to touch down in the 23rd minute, with Forster maintaining his 100 per cent record with the boot.

The home team took a grip three minutes later when Lee Gaskell split open Wolves’ defence for Carl Forster to cross. Foster’s extras made it 24-12.

Wolves importantly cut the deficit again five minutes before half time.

O’Brien raced 40 metres to score, dummying to Burke to beat full back Nathan Ashe as the try line approached. Harvey’s conversion made it 24-18 at the break.

It took 16 minutes for the deadlock to be broken in the second half.

Wolves enjoyed a period of dominance and were rewarded with a well-worked team try finished off in the corner by Penny but Harvey was wide with the conversion, leaving Wolves two points adrift.

Saints sealed the win with Forster’s second try in injury time, converted by Foster.

Saints: Nathan Ashe; Tom Makinson, Jamie Foster, Tom Armstrong, Martin Waring; Jack Bradbury, Lee Gaskell; Andrew Yates, Karl Ashall, Paul Johnson, Matty Ashurst, Andrew Dixon, Shaun Magennis. Subs: Carl Forster, Warren Thompson, Scott Hale, Joe Molyneux.

Wolves: Jordan Burke; Kevin Penny, James Mendeika, Danny Martin, Rhys Williams; Craig Harvey, Gareth O’Brien; Jamie Peasnell, Liam Hulme, Adam Neal, Mike Stewart, Ben Evans, James Laithwaite. Subs: Gav in Williams, Brooke Broughton, Jack Cooper, Matty Lomax.