London Broncos 62-18 Warrington Wolves

 
20 August 2012

Luke Dorn scored four tries for the second successive match as the revitalised Broncos completely overwhelmed the Challenge Cup finalists.

Dorn was incisive at stand off but this was very much a team performance as they rattled up 38 points without reply in a stunning second half.

Even interim coach Tony Rea didn't expect this kind of result. "I came here not knowing what to expect to be honest," he said. "Warrington have been in red hot form, but this whole week has been about us. Our week has been about building on a couple of things we wanted to improve on in the last couple of games."

They certainly did that by doing to Warrington what the Wolves have done to many sides this season by blasting through from the kick off. The Broncos were 12-0 up in the first five minutes. On their very first attack Craig Gower put in a grubber kick to the corner and Kieran Dixon beat the cover to touchdown.

Gower then had a kick charged down in his own half but Chris Melling seized on the loose ball and charged upfield. It looked as though the chance had been bombed when he failed to find support but they retained possession and finished off when Will Lovell ploughed over from a Gower pass. Gower converted both tries to make it 12-0 but Warrington hit back when Trent Waterhouse claimed a steepling bomb from Myler and offloaded to Stefan Ratchford.

The stand off scored by the posts to leave himself a simple conversion but minutes later the Broncos restored their 12 point advantage. The Wolves were penalised for holding down in the tackle and from this good attacking position Luke Dorn cut inside and forced his way over by the posts.

Gower again added the extras but the visitors cut the deficit again when Myler went through a gap in the Broncos' defence and Ratchford converted to make it 18-12. The match continued to see saw as the home side again edged ahead following another penalty, David Howell breaking through two tacklers and squeezing the ball out when he was eventually stopped. Omari Caro snapped it up to cross unopposed and Gower was again on target with the conversion.

Going into the final 10 minutes, the Broncos coughed up possession on the halfway line and the Wolves made them pay. They swept to the posts and on the sixth tackle Myler’s sharp pass found Ryan Atkins who put Rhys Williams over in the corner.

Ratchford converted from the touchline but despite some close calls the half ended with the home side ahead 24-18.

The home side struck first in the second half, a fine break by Howell taking play to within 15 metres of the Warrington posts. From the play the ball Julien Rinaldi found Dorn who once again cut back inside the defenders to score his 100th try for the club.

Gower made it a 12-point lead with the conversion but the Wolves came roaring back and it took a great double tackle by Michael Robertson and Dixon to deny Rhys Evans by the corner flag. Even though they were penalised for using knees in the tackle the defence held firm following the subsequent penalty.

Minutes later Howell's hit on Simon Grix typified the home team's defensive effort and minutes later they went further ahead. Warrington failed to deal with a Gower banana kick and the ball was snapped up and fed to Caro who stepped inside two tackles before offloading to enable Robertson to slice through.

Gower kept up his 100 per cent kicking record and then added a penalty after he was flattened by Chris Hill. The Warrington prop was sent to the sin bin leaving his side shorthanded with 18 minutes remaining to claw back a 20 minute deficit.

However, five minutes later all thoughts of a Wolves fightback were extinguished when Rinaldi crashed over by the posts and then Dorn completed his hat trick with a 60 metre interception try, Gower converting both to bring up the half century.

But that still wasn't enough for the rampant Broncos. Robertson touched down Dorn's perfectly weighted grubber kick before Dorn grabbed his fourth. With Gower taking a well earned rest, Melling slotted over both conversions to complete the rout..

Broncos: Robertson ; Dixon, O'Callaghan, Howell, Caro; Dorn, Gower; Kaufusi, Randall, Wheeldon, Melling, Lovell, Bolger Interchange: Rinaldi, Bryant, Krasniqi, McMeeken

Tries: Dixon, Lovell, Dorn 4, Caro, Robertson 2, Rinaldi Cons: Gower 8, Melling 2 Pen: Gower

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