Warrington get their revenge at last

The Wire had lost all four games against Northwich since Blacks were promoted back to North One West at the end of the 2015-2016 season.

Two of those were in painful circumstances after Nick Baldwin landed a penalty in the last minute.

While that will have been on the visitors’ mind, they arrived in town buoyed too by an eye-catching 19-15 win at Birkenhead Park on the opening day of a new campaign.

The reaction of their players following the referee’s final whistle, and a huge roar from a vocal support, revealed what a scalp they believe this to be.

Wire’s physical intensity

The visitors defended their line with ferocious tackling when they came under pressure during a spell towards the end of the first-half.

It was on the limit, and their penalty-count was much higher than coach Andy Roberts will have liked, but it did knock the hosts out of their stride.

Northwich were forced into errors, both handling and decision-making, that made it difficult for them to run up a head of steam.

Warrington dominated at the scrum during the early exchanges too and, while they visibly tired later, they held firm to protect an advantage established by Nathan Beesley’s second try shortly after the interval.

Injuries disrupt Blacks

Already without the experience of Chris Dale and Chris James, Northwich lost hooker Conor Lapniewski in the first-half.

Prop Adam Bennett didn’t return to the field after the interval either, while Richard Dale’s shoulder injury prompted a more significant reshuffle with Sam Naylor moving to outside centre from number eight.

Dale’s forward thrust and his ability to surprise with the ball in hand is missed when he isn’t available.

With Will Du Randt and Robin Houghton unavailable too, there was a patched up feel to the home team precisely when they needed to dig deep.

The conditions played a part

It is important to make two points here; it was hugely encouraging to see the impact of work done on the pitch at Moss Farm by volunteers over the summer.

The playing surface had drained perfectly, and there was no standing water despite heavy and persistent rainfall.

However a greasy ball increased the number of handling errors, particularly for Northwich.

Warrington adjusted better; they only in occasional flashes showed their free-flowing best when in possession, but they managed the game astutely when they head a lead to hold on to.

It worked a treat too.

A debut for Matt Ensor

The Kiwi replaced Richard Dale, slotting in at flanker when Sam Naylor switched to the backs division.

By then Blacks were already chasing the game at 14-7 down, although the new recruit demonstrated his willingness to carry the ball when he received it.

The 23-year-old from Tauranga Sports will need time to get up to speed, but he adds another option for director of rugby Martin Poste when he seeks to rotate his back-row forwards.