REPORT | |
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| MATCH NOTES : Played as part of the Magic Weekend at Murrayfield, Edinburgh. |
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1999 SLGF
2001 WCC
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COACH : Mick Potter (2009-01-01 : 2010-12-31 ) |
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MATCH REPORT |
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MATCH REPORT : THE Magic Weekend was anything but as Saints went down 38-18 to fierce rivals Wigan Warriors at Murrayfield. Saints were not at the races in the first half and Wigan capitalised to lead 24-6. Tries from Sean O’Loughlin, Pat Richards, Gareth Hock and Joel Tomkins with a reply from Sean Long gave the Warriors a deserved advantage. Wigan then added another score through Thomas Leuluai early doors in the second half before Leon Pryce and Paul Wellens pulled two back. But Saints could not find a way to breach a solid looking Wigan defence and the Warriors gained their first win over Saints in three Magic events. Mick Potter had returnees Tony Puletua and Matt Gidley in his side, whilst Matty Ashurst started in place of the injured Jon Wilkin. Keiron Cunningham led out the side on his 450th appearance. The Wigan team was missing a couple of notable absentees including Mark Riddell, but Pat Richards returned to the lineup. Brian Noble also elected not to play the league top try scorer Shaun Ainscough. Wigan kicked off and immediately put Saints on the back foot with a strong set and moments later they won a penalty when Sean Long was unfortunate to be offside from his own kick. On five minutes, Francis Meli caught a high Sean O’Loughlin kick. It was O’Loughlin who came up with the first score three minutes later when a Tim Smith high kick was recycled and he had a straightforward run to the line. Richards with the relatively simple conversion. But Saints finally applied some pressure when good tackling caught Amos Roberts in his own in-goal area. That meant a repeat set in Wigan’s 20 but they couldn’t capitalise. On 17 minutes another kick, this time along the floor, caught out the Saints defence and Richards beat Ade Gardner in a foot race to put down in the corner. He then nailed the conversion from right on the touchline. Kyle Eastmond came on with around 20 minutes to go and one of his first tasks was to knock dead a tricky Thomas Leuluai chip through on the last tackle. From that repeat set, Wigan were in again through Gareth Hock. Richards again perfect with the two-pointer. But Saints finally got on the board when Long chipped through and gathered his own kick after a mistake from Cameron Phelps. Eastmond with the extras to put his side right back in it. And moments later superb defence from Joel Tomkins kept out an excellent break from Long right on the try line. It was a timely piece of defence from the Wigan youngster who on the stroke of half time, went in under the sticks after taking a ball from Smith at pace. Richards again with the conversion. Half Time: Wigan 24 Saints 6 It needed something big in the second half from the Saints but early Wigan pressure from an unforced error led to the Warriors increasing their lead from the boot of Richards. And moments later Leuluai ended the game as a contest with a nicely taken try when a gap down the left was exploited by Richards. 15 minutes into the second half Saints had a double repeat set when Francis Meli chipped and chased, then Sean Long forced the Warriors back. But once again Wigan’s defence was too strong for the attack. Moments later, Saints did breach the defence with a jinking and determined run from Pryce. Long with the extras. And on 73 minutes, Wellens went over for his fifth of the season. But Wigan had the last word as a kick behind the defence was put down by Richards for his second of the game. He kicked the conversion to bring his game tally to 22 points. he result handed Saints their third loss of the season, but they still topped the league. |
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