Rugby League
Super League
Sunday 4th May 2025
Kick Off 15.15
Wigan Warriors 22 Warrington Wolves 20, attendance 32,862
@ Newcastle United F.C.
St. James’ Park
Leazes Terrace
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4ST
£30 Admission (Day ticket covering 3 games) + £1 Booking Fee, Print at Home Ticket
£5 Programme available, didn’t bother buying.
With the gap between the first game and this, which for me, was the main one I’d come for, was about 45 minutes. To be honest, if this had been up first, then I’d be heading off home by now. Not because of the standard of the games, but the fact that it was absolutely freezing cold and impossible to get out of the wind. I can’t remember being this cold at an evening game during winter, let alone an afternoon game in May!
Wigan came into the game third in the league table, a point behind second placed Leigh Leopards and a further three adrift of leaders Hull Kingston Rovers, but with this game in hand. Warrington were down in tenth place, but a win here could see them move up to fifth. These two had played each other in Las Vegas earlier this season, with Wigan coming out with a 48-24 win, having led 42-0 before Warrington got on the scoreboard. Today it looked to be heading for another thrashing, when tries from Jai Field and Bevan French, both converted, saw Wigan race into a 12-0 lead, but a try in the corner by Jake Thewlis saw Warrington pull it back to 12-4 midway through the half and it remained this way until halftime. An early second half try from Rodrick Tai was then converted, which saw Warrington close the gap to two points, before Wigan hit back with tries of their own, from Abbas Miski and Adam Keighran to extend their lead to 22-10. A Joe Philbin try, then converted, saw Warrington back in the game with seven minutes left and when Thewlis went over for his second try just a couple of minutes later, the unlikely looking comeback was very much on. Unfortunately, Stefan Ratchford was unable to add the two points and Wigan hung on to their slender two point advantage. If there’d been another few minutes on the clock, then Warrington would have probably won it. Even though their team lost, the Warrington fans certainly won the ‘best of the day’ award. They were by far the loudest of the four teams in the matches I saw, with tremendous backing from start to finish.
After the game I had about a five minute wait for a Metro and was soon back at the car. Home via A1 and M25 saw me arrive back just before 23.00, certainly helped by a lack of roadworks, although just as I was one junction from home, the two outside lanes were beginning to be coned off.
