Harsh yellow card gets Warrington off on the wrong foot

A SOMEWHAT harsh yellow card for a deliberate knock-on by back rower Evans in the first five minutes started a long hard game which ended Warrington 12 Burnage 52.
Although Warrington had the edge in an early scrum in the Burnage half, it was Burnage who came away with the ball and only a try-saving tackle by full back Norman prevented Burnage’s first score.
Relief was short lived, however, as subsequent pressure from the Burnage pack gained the first try, ably converted, 10 minutes in.  Although the game was largely played between the 22s, the Burnage back division always looked the more threatening and  added a second try 10 minutes later and a third five minutes after that when a quick penalty for holding on in the tackle caught Warrington napping.
The home side were not without possession, however, and centre Stride showed intelligent touches but Warrington’s unsettled back division could not break though the Burnage defence.
In the 30th minute a poor Warrington pass was snapped up by Burnage who countered quickly for their 4th try.  Warrington bounced back, however, with full back Norman countering from deep to catch his own lofted kick. Unfortunately he was brought down just yards short when a pass to winger Morgan in support might have brought dividends. Warrington kept the territory gained by successive drives through the pack with skipper Downes in particular making some hard yards. In almost the last play before the interval, Warrington gained a scrum just yards from the Burnage line but Burnage gained a strike against the head and capitalised by going the length of the pitch for a fifth try.
Five minutes into the second half a quick penalty for Warrington via the deft hands of hooker White nearly had winger Turner in on the right but it was not till five minutes later that Warrington recorded their first score. Another quick penalty from scrum-half Dixon gave Caldwell some room to move and the nippy centre scored wide on the left.
Burnage replied with another try before winger Morgan touched down for Warrington’s second following a simple down the line passing movement and a run around under the posts. Norman converted.
Warrington’s possession tended to be slow simplifying Burnage’s defence task. Making little progress with ball in hand, Warrington would opt to kick but too often touch was missed or there was little pressure put on the receiver who countered effectively. The Burnage backs made the most of these opportunities to run in two more tries before the end.
According to coach Callender “ we made a few mistakes which is only to be expected from an unsettled back division and these were fully exploited by the opposition.  The second half was better but our first up tackling needs to improve.”