Sad to report that in torrential conditions albeit on an excellent pitch (Wigan now employ a full time groundsman at Orrell) our U18's blew a tremendous opportunity to inflict the first defeat of the season upon their St Helens counterparts.A tale of 2 halves.
The first half was dominated by Wigan. Aggressive in the tackle, making good yards and kicking well Wigan forced errors and dominated field position. Winger Sean Ainscough scored in typically determined fashion. He then combined delightfully with Stuart Howarth exchanging passes before Howarth was able to go in under the posts. Josh Vievers converting both tries. Sadly, Saints replied when a cross field kick was plucked out of the air by tall St Helens centre, Jamie Foster. Foster then converted his own try. Neil Holland was outstanding at prop for Wigan, playing the whole half. Alas if truth be told, Wigan did not do enough with ball in hand to convert pressure into points. They sorely missed Sam Tomkins who has recently moved up to U21s.
The second half was a completely different story. Wigan oddly looked far more jaded and struggled to match a far more enthusiastic and purposeful Saints team. Saints dominated field position and heaped pressure upon Wigan who were continually forced to drive the ball out from their own 20. Nevertheless, Wigan through sheer effort rather than method kept repelling Saints, often from their very own try line. Two penalties by Josh Vievers were interspaced by a Saints Helens try in the corner following a simple overlap. Crucially the try was converted superbly from the touch line by Foster. Nevertheless, Wigan held a 16-12 lead and looked like they could hold on for victory.
The referee was a law unto himself and awarded a penalty to Saints for crossing when no crossing took place. The Wigan stand off intimiating that he was going to pass to an outside runner before deciding to simply straighten up and run inside the outside runner. Thankfully and inexplicably Foster missed the relatively easy penalty attempt and Wigan kept their lead. The touch judge who had a very good game then correctly adjudged a double movement by Saints that I fear the referee would have awarded a try for.
Nevertheless, it was one way traffic and no amount of interchanges brought any respite to the pressure upon Wigan. The kicking game became more and more ragged and Saints finally took the lead with less than 10 minutes to go. A cross field kick was fumbled over the line by Ainscough and Saints pounced on the loose ball to score. The touch judge held his ground as there was some debate as to whether Ainscough had been unfairly challenged in the air. Alas, the refere decided after consulting his TJ that the try was legitimate. Foster again kicked a superb conversion from the touchline to give Saints an 18-16 winning lead.
A ragged and exhausted Wigan were unable to mount any serious attacks in the time left and Saints deservedly (sadly) won this pulsating encounter. The Wigan youngsters can only reflect on an opportunity lost in a match whereby they tried hard but lacked direction. No Wigan player stood out bar Holland in the first half. If one must be critical then only John Pendelbury knows why he left Mike Priest a more experienced winger to stew on the bench for a full 80 whilst the younger and diminutive full back and winger were battered time and time again.
