Captain Ryan Wannop scored a late try to help Wigton to a 33-26 win at Millom in Counties 1 Cumbria.
The home side had led 26-12 but their bigger forwards started to tire over the final quarter of the game and Wigton finished strongly to come through and win.
Elliot Armstrong converted Wannop’s try four minutes from time and Wigton held firm for the important win.
Wigton are unbeaten in 2024 and they started brightly against the wind. Following a period of early pressure scrum-half Fergus Ledingham reacted first to a loose ball and scorched over for the first try which was unconverted.
Millom kicked long from the re-start and pinned Wigton in their own 22 which eventually led to a converted try to grab the lead.
It was Wigton who struck next following good periods of play and they moved the ball well, releasing young winger Jordan Moore to beat the cover defence and finish well in the corner.
The next 25 minutes proved to be Wigton’s worst of the game as in quick succession they lost powerful forward Jonathan Dodd and full-back Rocco Okesene with injuries.
The disruption caused the young side to re-organise and it led to a kick through not being dealt with early enough. It led to a Millom try, and another quickly followed so that the hosts led 19-12 at half-time.
Millom’s game plan into the wind was to use their big forwards to carry close to the ruck, which proves successful as they scored another converted try.
At this point the experienced players in the Wigton side rallied with Ledingham and back-rower Richard Jackson coming to the fore and started the fight-back by taking control of the game.
James Paisley fielded a clearance kick and found space running it back, leaving several defenders in his wake to score a try which Armstrong converted. This was to be Paisley’s last action of the game as he departed with injury.
The Millom pack was labouring the longer the game went and Wigton started to use the wind effectively to gain field position and move the ball into space.
Following waves of attack emergency winger Brunon Studholme ran a great line to split the defence and gallop 25 metres for the try and Armstrong’s conversion tied the game.
With possession re-gathered from the re-start Ledingham kicked intelligently to keep Wigton on the front foot and disciplined defence kept Millom pinned in their own half.
Following a line-out routine Wigton went through several phases before Wannop crashed and stepped his way over under the posts to leave Armstrong with a simple conversion.
Wigton had to defend for the last four minutes but the line held firm for another close win. They are now tied with St. Benedict’s for second place and face a straight shoot-out at Lowmoor Road on Saturday against the Mirehouse side.
*Wigton 2nds beat Cockermouth 2nds 61-17 with tries from Josh Leeson (3), Matty Harrison (2), Ben Postlethwaite (2) and Sam Middleham. Leeson added six conversions and Postlethwaite put over two.
Head coach David Warwick said: “Hopefully this will be the start of a good run of games as more fixtures are organised. We’re starting to build depth to the squad and want to start integrating the Colts into senior squads to aid their transition into senior rugby next year.”
