8 Apr 2007 - Warrington Ladies win Plate Final
A gripping see saw battle took place in the Plate Challenge Cup Final at Featherstone on Sunday.
Warrington got off to a great start when early pressure allowed Debbie Makin to weave through the Middleton defence and give the Wolves an early 6-0 lead. However early nerves told as silly penalties and dropped balls let Middleton run riot in a 10 minute spell that saw Warrington let in 4 tries and slip to an 18-6 defecit. Once the Wolves finally settled their superior strength & fitness told as they started to break the Middleton defence down. Warrington finished the half the stronger team with Aimee Bradshaw scoring under the posts just before half time to bring the Wolves within one score at 18-12.
Middleton started strongly in the second half with an unconverted try. However the effort they put into the first half told as they tired early & started dropping off tackles. Warrington came back with tries from Nicollette Postlethwaite & Kath Organ and took the lead mid way through the half 24-20. Warrington grew stronger as the game continued but bombed 4 certain tries with forward passes & dropped kicks. Warrignton consolidated their lead through good handling to enable centre Katherine Hunter to score out wide. However Middleton countered with a try to keep the scores close.
Good hands again from the Warrington team saw winger Rachael Elms score what proved to be the winning try. Warrington were 8 points up with 3 minutes left. Middleton found a new urgency & got the ball from the kick and scored an unconverted try in the corner to set up a thrilling final few minutes. Warrignton held on to win the Plate Challenge Cup for the first time in their history.