Leigh Leopards Wheelchair 66 Swinton Lions Wheelchair 14
Alan Dixon at Lowton High School
The Leopards came out on top in a game of two halves. The Lions fought hard throughout but were unable to compete with the speed of the Leopards.
The Lions Lost the ball on their first possession. Leigh recovered the ball and were soon attacking the Lions line after runs by Paul Brown and Rob Tickle. The ball was moved across to Jack Taylor to score. Michael Waywell converted. The Lions recovered the restart. Dan Robinson and Andy Unwin took the ball up before moving it out to Jordan Parker to score his fiftieth point for the club. Dan Robinson was unable to convert. Good runs by Jordan Parker and Robin Cronshaw gave the Lions good field position to attack the Leigh line. The ball was moved across to Jordan Parker whose kick forced Leigh to concede a drop out. The Lions continued to attack. Runs by Robin Cronshaw, Jordan Parker, Andy Unwin and Charlie Gordon got them close to the Leopards line. Dan Robinson’s pass out wide couldn’t be taken, and the ball went into touch. Leigh were soon attacking the Lions line. They moved the ball across to Wes Thomasson, but he was unable to stay in the field of play. The Lions next attack forced the Leopards into another drop out. The Leopards recovered the ball and went back on the attack with runs by Michael Waywell and Paul Brown. Rob Tickle’s pass allowed Jack Taylor to cut through the Lions defence to score. The conversion was missed. Leigh knocked on at the restart which gave the Lions good field position. Robin Cronshaw and Jordan Parker sent Andy Unwin to the line, but he was tackled short. The ball was moved out to Robin Cronshaw, but the final pass was judged to have gone forward with an open line in front of him. Leigh lost the ball on their next possession. Jordan Parker and Andy Unwin launched the Lions next attack. The ball was moved back to Jordan Parker to score. The conversion was missed. They continued to attack the Leigh line with Jordan Parker, Dan Robinson and Andy Unwin who was tackled short of the line. The ball was moved out to Charlie Gordon who was also tackled short. A Jordan Parker kick forced the Leopards to knock the ball dead. From the restart, Dan Robinson and Jordan Parker launched the Lions next attack. The ball was moved out wide to Robin Cronshaw who slipped out of the grasp of two Leigh defenders to reverse his way over the line to score. Dan Robinson converted to give the Lions a 14-10 lead.
The Lions lost the ball on their next possession. This allowed Rob Tickle and Paul Brown to launch the Leopards next attack. The ball was moved across to Jack Taylor but a good tackle by the Lions forced him to knock the ball on. The Lions went back downfield and were awarded another set of six. Dan Robinson continued the attack before moving the ball out to Jordan Parker who sent Charlie Gordon in at the corner. The referee disallowed the try saying that he had gone into touch. Leigh were then awarded a penalty for double tagging. Leigh continued the attack with Rob Tickle, Michael Waywell, Jack Taylor and Paul Brown but good defence by the Lions prevented them from scoring. The Lions turned the ball over which allowed Leigh to attack down the wing. Jack Taylor broke through the Lions defence before passing the ball out to Rob Tickle. A last-ditch tackle by Charlie Gordon prevented him from scoring. The ball was moved across to Michael Waywell who cut through the Lions defence to score under the posts. He converted his own try to put Leigh back into the lead. They scored again straight from the restart. Rob Tickle sent Jack Taylor away to score. Michael Waywell converted. Leigh again continued to attack with Rob Tickle, Reece Sharp and Jack Taylor but again the Lions defence prevented them from scoring. The Lions lost the ball which allowed Jack Taylor and Reece Sharp to send Rob Tickle away down the wing. A superb tackle by Charlie Gordon sent him into touch. The Lions were soon back on the attack with Jordan Parker, Charlie Gordon and Andy Unwin. Jordan Parker sent Dan Robinson over to score. It was disallowed as he was judged to have been tackled short of the line.
Leigh started the second half with all gun’s blazing. From the kick off, runs by Michael Wakefield, Wes Thomasson and Reece Sharp got them close to the Lions line. The ball was moved across to Rob Tickle who cut through the Lions line to score under the posts. He converted his own try. From the restart, the Leopards went straight back downfield with Jack Taylor being tackled short of the line. Quick hands between Rob Tickle and Michael Wakefield sent Jack Taylor over to score out wide. The conversion attempt was missed. They scored again from the restart with Jack Taylor and Michael Wakefield getting the ball out to Wes Thomasson to score in the corner. Again, the conversion was missed. They scored again from the restart when Reece Sharp moved the ball inside to Jack Taylor. He switched the ball back to Reece Sharp who went half the length of the field to score. Rob Tickle converted. The Leopards continued to attack with Rob Tickle, Jack Taylor, Michael Wakefield and Reece Sharp. Good defence by the Lions kept them out. The Lions lost the ball coming out of defence. From the hand over, Leigh moved the ball out to Wes Thomasson but his run to the line was pulled back for a forward pass.
The Lions attacked from deep with Elina Parker and Dan Robinson. Jordan Parker kicked the ball for Martin Beddis to chase but the ball went out of play before he could get to it. A Lions error allowed Leigh to launch their next attack with runs from Danny Maiden, Wes Thomasson and Jack Taylor. The ball was moved back to Rob Tickle who sent Jack Taylor in at the corner to score. Michael Waywell converted. They scored again from the restart with runs by Jack Taylor and Michael Wakefield. Rob Tickle sent Jack Taylor over to score. Michael Waywell converted. The Lions went back on the attack but lost the ball. The Leopards recovered the ball and quickly moved the ball downfield with runs by Jack Taylor, Michael Waywell and Reece Sharp. The ball was moved across to Rob Tickle who weaved his way through the Lions defence to score. Michael Waywell converted. Reece Sharp went down the wing on Leigh’s next attack before passing the ball inside to Jack Taylor to score. Michael Waywell converted. The Lions were awarded a penalty but were unable to find touch with the kick. The ball was quickly moved downfield. Reece Sharp sent the ball out to Wes Thomasson, but he was unable to stay in the field of play.
Teams:
Leigh Leopards Wheelchair: Rob Tickle, Michael Waywell, Wes Thomasson, Paul Brown, Jack Taylor. Subs: Danny Maiden, Michael Wakefield, Reece Sharp.
Tries: Taylor (2,12,30,65,67,72), Waywell (28), Tickle (42,70), Sharp (44,48), Thomasson (46)
Goals: Waywell 7, Tickle 2
Swinton Lions Wheelchair: Andy Unwin, Jordan Parker, Dan Robinson, Charlie Gordon, Robin Cronshaw. Subs: Duncan Clarke, Elina Parker, Martin Beddis.
Tries: Parker (4,15), Cronshaw (20)
Goal: Robinson
Pens: 6-3 Half Time: 22-14
Lead Referee: Tom Simms Referee: Ian Cronshaw
