Super League: Warrington draw with Hull KR despite red for James Green
Last Updated: 02/07/16 2:25pm
Warrington and 12-man Hull KR had to settle for a point after drawing 16-16 at the KC Lightstream Stadium on Friday.
James Green was sent off just before half-time for punching Jordan Cox in an ill-tempered end to the first half.
Warrington looked to have snatched victory coming from 10-0 down to lead 16-10 with three minutes to play. But Iain Thornley's late try and a conversion from Ben Cockayne salvaged a point for the Robins, which keeps their narrow hopes of finishing in the First Utility Super League top-eight alive.
Warrington enjoyed the early exchanges forcing back-to-back goal line drop outs but they were unable to turn them into points as neither side troubled the scorers for the first 39 minutes.
Rovers twice squandered possession near the Warrington line coughing the ball up on the first tackle.
The visitors came close to scoring twice but were denied by the referee. First Kevin Penny spilled the ball going over the line in the 20th minute. Six minutes later Matty Russell's celebrations were cut short thanks to a forward pass to him.
The game burst into life as the first half drew to a close. Former Robin Cox seemed to make contact with James Green while the two players were on the ground. Green took exception and upon getting to his feet, punched Cox. Green was sent off while Cox escaped further punishment other than conceding a penalty.
Being reduced to 12 men inspired Rovers who went down the field in their next set and scored. James Donaldson went through a gap to score to the left of the posts. Cockayne converted to give Rovers a 6-0 lead which they took into the interval.
Rovers then extended their advantage five minutes into the second half, with Thomas Minns ending a move on the right hand side. Cockayne missed the conversion, but Rovers led 10-0.
A fight-back then arrived from Warrington. Russell seemed to have been stopped in the tackle, but his strength enabled him to stretch out and ground the ball over Rovers tryline. Ratchford, kicking in front of a noisy home crowd missed the conversion to leave Wolves trailing 10-4.
Ratchford made amends with his next conversion right in front of the posts after Brad Dwyer spun out of a tackle to score. Within six minutes, Warrington had wiped out Rovers' 10-point advantage. And with 23 minutes to play, they fancied their chances of winning.
With five minutes remaining, Jack Hughes looked to have won the points for the visitors with his try and Ratchford's conversion, which gave Warrington a 16-10 lead.
But there was just enough time left for Rovers to mount a late challenge. Thornley barged his way over from close range leaving Cockayne the simplest of conversions to secure a hard-earned point for the Robins.
