MATCH REPORT: LONDON BRONCOS V WIGAN WARRIORS (by David Ballheimer)

London Broncos (10) 22, Wigan Warriors (22) 60

London Broncos were given a harsh lesson in the realities of Super League by the World Champion Wigan Warriors at Cherry Red Records Stadium. The message was rammed home: if you make mistakes or your discipline slips, you will be punished. All four Warriors tries in the first half came after mistakes from the Broncos and, after Rob Butler had been sin-binned, 14 points came in those ten minutes.

That said, for a few blissful minutes early in the second half, London fans were dreaming of a miraculous upset. They had just witnessed Jordan Williams score a try, converted by Oli Leyland, to move within six points of Wigan. Then came the yellow card, and those hopes were ruthlessly extinguished.

After receiving the kick-off, the Broncos moved downfield and were given a repeat set, one of more than a dozen handed out (with London more the offenders than the offended), but the Wigan line wasn’t really threatened.

The next set, however, ended when 18-year-old scrum-half Jack Farrimond stripped the ball in the tackle, quickly passed to Jacob Wardle, who raced between the posts. While London lost Jack Campagnolo just before kick-off, requiring a big reshuffle, Wigan rested Bevan French and Harry Smith and brought in Ryan Hampshire and Farrimond and they barely missed a beat.

Five minutes later, an incorrect play-the-ball gave Wigan the ball back deep in London territory and, within a couple of tackles, former Broncos favourite Abbas Miski spotted a gap in the defensive line and scooted over the whitewash from dummy half.

After 16 minutes, London got on the scoreboard after a Wigan error. Jacob Jones burst through the Warriors defensive line and was able to force the ball down before covering tacklers could intervene. Leyland added the extras. The Warriors, however, were quick to hit back, Tyler Dupree scoring from close range. And it nearly got worse for the Broncos when Patrick Mago crashed over, but the video referee detected a hand underneath the ball. Minutes later, the video referee upset home fans when he ruled – correctly – that Lee Kershaw lost the ball as he dived over the line.

Last season, Harvie Hill spent a month on loan with the Broncos. After 28 minutes, the young prop crashed over from close range, a possession extended by a repeat set. 

A rare errant pass from the Warriors nearly resulted in a try for Kershaw, but he couldn’t hold onto the ball. He would have had an almost uncontested run to the line. Two minutes before half-time, skipper Will Lovell, celebrating his 150th London Broncos appearance, somehow threw a long pass out to the right wing and Kershaw would not be denied, going over in the corner and this time the video referee was happy with the grounding and that he had stayed inbounds.

The Broncos’ first attacking set of the second half ended with a high kick from James Meadows. Iliess Macani timed his run perfectly and outjumped Miski and Zach Eckersley, palming the ball backwards. Rhys Kennedy picked up the bouncing ball and passed to Jordan Williams, who went through two tacklers to touch down.

Leyland’s kick made it 16–22 and, “perchance to dream”, London just dared to hope for a miracle. The cold, hard reality of Super League hit home five minutes later when Rob Butler was penalised for a high tackle and the video referee upgraded the offence to a yellow card, so the Broncos were down to 12 men for ten minutes.

Nonetheless, London had got under the Wigan skin sufficiently for Adam Keighran to kick the two points on offer, rather than going for six from a converted try – Keighran kicked 10 out 11 attempts. The Warriors were ruthless in those 10 minutes, first Brad O’Neill scooted over from dummy half, then Mago crashed through three defenders in a 10-metre burst. 

Fourteen points in 10 minutes turned a close game into a possible rout and, after an hour, Wigan scored the try of the game. Miski made a half-break and Eckersley – also on loan at London last year – went 70 metres between the posts.

As London tired, Wigan stepped up a gear and their eighth try was very soft. Half-back Hampshire picked up the ball from a scrum on the London 10 and burst over the line. At this stage, Wigan had scored 26 unanswered points in just 18 minutes. Also, it was the 11th try of the match, and the 11th different scorer.

That statistical nicety was ended with ten minutes to go, and it was Kershaw who completed his double with another dive in the corner. A superb kick from touch from Leyland was his third from four attempts. From the restart, unfortunately, London knocked on, and Wigan marched downfield, a possession which ended with Hill crossing for his second try. 

With a minute to go, Jai Field, who had barely been involved in Wigan attacks – admittedly, he hadn’t been needed – made a break. He beat the last Broncos tackler and had a clear run to the line, but passed to Keighran who touched down much as he pleased and the conversion took his game total to 24 points.

London Broncos: 4 Hakim Miloudi, 2, Lee Kershaw, 3 Jarred Bassett, 21 Robbie Storey, 5 Iliess Macani, 7 James Meadows, 20 Oli Leyland, 19, Rhys Kennedy, 9 Sam Davis, 30 Fenton Rogers, 11 Will Lovell, 29 Jacob Jones, 15 Marcus Stock. Replacements: 1 Alex Walker, 8 Rob Butler, 16 Jordan Williams, 31 Reiss Butterworth. 18th man: 6 Jack Campagnolo 

Tries: Jones (16), Kershaw (38, 70), Williams (42)

Goals: Leyland 3/4

Sin-bin: Butler (47) high tackle

Wigan Warriors: 1 Jai Field, 2 Abbas Miski, 3 Adam Keighran, 4 Jake Wardle, 26 Zach Eckersley, 23 Ryan Hamsphire, 30, Jack Farrimond, 16 Luke Thompson, 9 Brad O’Neill, 19 Tyler Dupree,11 Willie Isa, 12 Liam Farrell, 15 Patrick Mago. Replacements 20 Harvie Hill, 21 Junior Nsemba, 24 Tiaki Chan, 27 Tom Forber. 18th man: 14 Kaide Ellis.

Tries: Wardle (5), Miski (10), Dupree (18), Hill (28, 73), O’Neill (50), Mago (56), Eckersley (60), Hampshire (66), Keighran (79).

Goals: Keighran 10/11

Sin-bin: None

Referee: James Vella

HT: 10–22

Penalty awarded count: 9–5

Attendance: 4,116