WARRINGTON Wolves’ reserve side got their 2025 campaign off to a flying start on Friday night.
They may have fallen behind in the early stages of their clash with visitors Wakefield Trinity at Victoria Park, but their response was emphatic as they ran out 34-4 winners.
The Wire ran in seven tries from as many different scorers and while he believes the scoreline perhaps does not tell the full story of the game, the reserves’ head coach Ryan O’Brien was pleased with how his side looked in all areas.
“The game was more competitive than the scoreline suggests,” he said.
“I actually think Wakefield started both halves stronger than us, but we looked in good physical condition and stayed resilient to come out of the other side and gain a foothold in the game.
“We were pretty clinical with the ball but the most pleasing thing was how we defended multiple periods of back-to-back sets on our goal-line.”
Trinity took the lead after just four minutes when winger Neil Tchamambe rose highest to collect a kick to the corner and touch down, but that was as good as it got for the visiting side in terms of scoring.
Half-back Ewan Irwin was to the fore for three of the four tries that sent Warrington into the break in command at 18-4 – he supplied the final pass for half-back partner Joe Hickey to score and to send back-rower Nolan Tupaea over the line either side of a length-of-the-field interception effort from Zack Gardner.
Irwin was again involved in the next try as his long ball found Frank Sergent on the wing, and he kicked back inside for Joe Bajer to collect and score.
It took the young Wolves 15 minutes to extend their advantage in the second half, with Tom McKinney freeing his arms in the tackle to find a pass for Oliver Morgan to break free and score from midway inside the Trinity half.
Irwin and full-back Flynn Holden then combined to send Sergent over in the corner before the scoring was completed when James Duffy ran a great angle from Tupaea’s pass to brush off two tackles and score.
The reserves are in action at Victoria Park again on Saturday as they host Leigh Leopards in a 1pm kick off.
Wolves: Flynn Holden; Frank Sergent, James Duffy, Zack Gardner, Jake Thewlis; Joe Hickey, Ewan Irwin; Logan Raughter, Daniel Regan, Luke Thomas, Kian Stanton, Nolan Tupaea, Sam Marshall. Subs: Oliver Morgan Isaac Reid, Tom McKinney, Joe Bajer. 18th man: Lachlan Webster
