Manchester Swinton Lionesses 22        Warrington Wolves 18

Alan Dixon reporting

The Lionesses remained unbeaten and top of the table with a hard-fought victory over the Warrington Wolves at Ince Rose Bridge.

The Lionesses went on the attack straight from the kick off. Runs by Tamika Bull, Grace Pritchard, Eleanor Atherton and Grace Arrowsmith got the Lionesses into good field position. This allowed Tamika Bull to put a kick in behind the Wolves defence but, Ellie Costello was first to the ball. The Wolves quickly moved the ball downfield on their first attack. There was then a lengthy delay when Dani Bound was carried off with a serious injury. Warrington continued the attack. Their kick on the last as blocked by Maddie Higson who kicked the ball ahead before being tackled off the ball to earn a penalty. From the penalty, Georgia Briggs drove the ball up for the first tackle. Maddie Higson, Tamika Bull and Leila D’Symonds moved the ball quickly out to Grace Arrowsmith who sent Grace Pritchard in at the corner. Maddie Higson was unable to add the conversion. Warrington went back on the attack. Passes by Emma Dwyer, Ellie Costello and Hollie Brussels moved the ball across the field to Kaitlin Hilton who sent Teneisha Fairbrother away down the wing. A superb tackle by Chloe Newbigging sent her into touch. The Lionesses knocked on coming out of defence. Good tackling kept the Wolves at bay. Hollie Gregory intercepted a Lionesses pass with a clear run to the line. A superb chase back and tackle by Grace Pritchard prevented her from scoring. The Lionesses conceded a penalty in their own half. This allowed Emma Dwyer to go close for the Wolves. The ball was moved out wide to Shannon Stephens who sent Teneisha Fairbrother in at the corner. Beth Hayes missed the conversion. Sammi Simpson launched the next Lionesses attack. Maddie Higson sent Leila D’Symonds on a weaving run through the Wolves defence before being tackled short of the line. A missed tackled allowed Warrington’s Kaitlin Hilton to get close the Lionesses line. Quick hands by Beth Hayes, Emma Dwyer and Hollie Gregory got the ball out wide to Hollie Brussels who sent Cailey Miller in at the corner. Hollie Gregory missed the conversion.

Runs by Chloe Newbigging, Abbie Singleton, Tamika Bull, Grace Arrowsmith and Leila D’Symonds got the Lionesses into the Warrington half. Maddie Higson’s kick on the last was too long. Warrington’s next attack ended with their kick being taken by Tamika Bull. This allowed Grace Pritchard to go on a 40-metre run to clear the lines. Chloe Newbigging took it up to halfway before being tackled and earning a penalty. From the penalty, Yasmin Parton Sotomayor, Sammi Simpson, Tamika Bull and Amber Harmon set up the next Lionesses attack. Emma Welsford was tackled short of the line. Tamika Bull dummied her way over from acting half to score. Maddie Higson added the extras. Another Lionesses error gave good field position to the Wolves. Good defence again prevented the Wolves from scoring. Emma Welsford sent Morgan Pearson away on a run to clear the Lionesses line. Tamika Bull, Yasmin Parton Sotomayor and Eleanor Atherton took the ball deep into the Wolves half. The ball was moved out wide to Kerrie Evans who sent Chloe Newbigging away, but she was tackled into touch. Morgan Pearson set up the Lionesses next attack with a 40-metre run. Amber Harmon was tackled short of the line. Tamika Bull forced her way over from dummy half with two tacklers to score. The conversion was missed. Warrington were penalised for offside at the restart. From the penalty, Morgan Pearson, Emma Welsford and Yasmin Parton Sotomayor all went on runs. The ball was moved across to Leila D’Symonds who sent Grace Arrowsmith in at the corner. Again, the conversion was missed.

The Lionesses kick off at the start of the second half was allowed to go into touch. Yasmin Parton Sotomayor, Maddie Higson, Tamika Bull, Amber Harmon and Grace Arrowsmith got the ball near the Warrington line. Emma Welsford was tackled short of the line. Quick hands by Morgan Pearson, Tamika Bull and Maddie Higson got the ball out to Sammi Simpson who sent Kerrie Evans in at the corner. Again, the conversion was missed. The Warrington restart forced the Lionesses into a drop out, but they were unable to capitalise on the Lionesses error. Morgan Pearson sent Emma Welsford through a gap in the Wolves defence and on a 40-metre run to set up the next Lionesses attack. Runs by Morgan Pearson, Sammi Simpson, Tamika Bull and Maddie Higson got the close to the Wolves line. Tamika Bull’s kick on the last was collected by the Wolves. Runs by Megan Condliffe, Lydia Egan and Jen Myler set up the Wolves next attack. A superb tackle by Yasmin Parton Sotomayor on Shannon Stephens forced Warrington to kick on the last tackle. Leila D’Symonds recovered the kick and set the Lionesses away on their next attack. Runs by Emma Welsford, Amber Harmon and Eleanor Atherton got them up to halfway. Morgan Pearson went on a 40-metre run before being tackled near the line on the last tackle. Warrington’s next attack ended with a kick. This allowed Grace Pritchard to go on a run to set up the next attack. Further runs by Kerrie Evans and Emma Welsford continued the attack into the Wolves half before Sammi Simpson was high tackled. From the penalty, Georgia Briggs went on a run. The ball was moved out to Maddie Higson. She passed it onto Tamika Bull, but she was penalised for obstruction. Back-to-Back penalties got the Wolves up to halfway. Runs by Megan Bragg and Ellie Dooney got them near the Lionesses line before Megan Bragg knocked on.  Warrington went back on the attack, but Kaitlin Hilton knocked on near the line. From the scrum, Sydney Alderman-Smith and Morgan Pearson went on runs before another Lionesses error put them back under pressure.  The Wolves went back on the attack, but Beth Hayes’ pass out wide went straight into touch. The Lionesses lost possession of the ball on their next attack with the ball being recovered by Megan Bragg.

The ball was moved out wide to Cailey Miller, but she was tackled into touch by Grace Pritchard. The Lionesses soon got the ball down the other end with runs by Sydney Alderman-Smith, Sammi Simpson, Eleanor Atherton, Amber Harmon, Emma Welsford and Maddie Higson who was tackled near the line. The Lionesses were then penalised for a late hit. Ellie Dooney was tackled short of the line. This allowed Beth Hayes to crash over to score. Hollie Gregory converted. The Lionesses short kick off was taken by Emma Dwyer. Runs by Hollie Brussels, Shannon Stephens, Megan Bragg and Kaitlin Hilton got them close to the line. Ellie Costello’s pass out wide went into touch. Errors by the Lionesses enabled the Wolves to apply more pressure on their line. Good defence kept them from scoring. Grace Pritchard recovered a Warrington kick and set the Lionesses away on another attack which ended with an Emma Welsford kick. Warrington lost the ball in a one-on-one ball steal by Tamika Bull. Sydney Alderman-Smith, Amber Harmon and Georgia Briggs got them close to the line. Emma Welsford sent out a long pass to Kerrie Evans who went over in the corner. The referee disallowed the try for a knock on. Chloe Newbigging was the sin binned for delaying the restart. The Wolves scored again on their last attack. Quick hands by Ellie Costello, Hollie Brussels and Kaitlin Hilton sent Teneisha Fairbrother in at the corner. Beth Hayes missed the conversion.

Teams:

Manchester Swinton Lionesses: Leila D’Symonds, Chloe Newbigging, Kerrie Evans, Grace Arrowsmith, Grace Pritchard, Tamika Bull, Maddie Higson, Eleanor Atherton, Abbie Singleton, Madeline Neale, Sammi Simpson, Amber Harmon, Georgia Briggs. Subs: Sydney Alderman-Smith, Emma Welsford, Morgan Pearson, Yasmin Parton Sotomayor. 18th Player: Jasmine Wilson

Tries: Pritchard (5), Bull (27,36), Arrowsmith (39), Evans (42)

Goal: Higson

Warrington Wolves: Hollie Brussels, Cailey Miller, Libby Clarke, Kaitlin Hilton, Teneisha Fairbrother, Hollie Gregory, Ellie Costello, Ellie Dooney, Dani Bound, Megan Bragg, Kayleigh Bradshaw, Jen Myler, Beth Hayes. Subs: Emma Dwyer, Shannon Stephens, Megan Condliffe, Lydia Egan.

Tries: Fairbrother (13,79), Miller (19), Hayes (65)

Goal: Gregory

Pens: 5-6                  Half Time: 18-8

Photo credits MKS Photography