Judes Juggernaut Rolls On

The Vipers welcomed Wigan St Judes to a wet Hood Lane on Sunday morning in an attempt to follow up their recent victory against Portico the previous Sunday.

From the first whistle it was clear that St Judes had come to play and it would be a tough task for the Warrington based team. The first quarter was played in wind and rain but that didn't stop Judes playing an expansive passing game. Judes opened the scoring with their first attack before following it up with another after they kept Crosfields out at the other end. Joe Harding showed his electric pace straight from the restart, scorching down the right wing to pull one back. Judes would finish the quarter 4-2 up after Man of the Match Henry Briscoe had dusted himself down from several high shots to add to the Viper scoring.

The second quarter was a tight one with both teams scoring three tries each, Harding added to his tally before Mitch Ireland sent Luke Taylor away for his first try. Like buses Taylor didn't have to wait long for the second as he weaved his way along a packed touch line to squeeze over in the corner.

Any hopes of a Viper strike were soon dashed in the third as only a solitary Tyler Mills try troubled the scorers on the back of Four from the visitors from Wigan. The opposition were in great form throwing the ball from touch line to touch line and despite great effort from Harvey Holt, Bobby Hill and Alex Dowd the tries kept on coming. Jacob Allcock and Ben Haughton ran strongly to try and break down the opposition but to no avail.

The Vipers had little to lose in the last and intricate passing from Briscoe and Ireland ended with Jaden Penny crossing the whitewash followed by the obligatory celebration. Ireland would himself bag a try for his efforts after more dogged defence by Harvey Holt had prevented the opposition from increasing their lead.

In the end it was not to be as Judes left 14-8 victors on the scoreboard but another step forward with the ball in hand and great teamwork on display was pleasing to see for all.

The defence wasn't at its best but credit goes where it's due, St Judes won't lose many this year and again it shows a benchmark of where the Vipers are striving to get to.

Shaun