Wigan rout reigning champions York in season opener
Wigan Warriors served further notice there could be a new name at the top of Womens' Super League this season with an emphatic statement win against back-to-back champions York Valkyrie.Six days after booking a place in the Womens' Challenge Cup final with a 44-14 semi-final win over Leeds Rhinos, Denis Betts' side left the reigning champions on the canvas at the Brick Community Stadium.In an explosive first half, the 2023 and 2024 champions Valkyrie conceded five tries as Wigan dominated possession and made best use of it.It was 13 minutes before Molly Jones went over after a break and assist from Ellise Derbyshire, but Wigan had another through Eva Hunter four minutes later, and a third after Tiana Power's dazzling run from the right flank to score.If it was an opening period that left York stunned, a try from Grace Banks, with a strong finish through two tackles, and an Emily Veivers score after she reacted quickest to a loose ball a minute from the break left them flattened.
Izzy Rowe's boot proved reliable with four goals for the extras.The only respite to the relentless waves of Wigan pressure came during a long injury break as medics attended to York centre Tamzin Renouf, who was stretchered off after 35 minutes.While there was later positive news about Renouf the half-time break did nothing to blunt the Warriors hunger, and Mia Atherton posted an enormous hit on Izzy Brennan straight from the restart.Shania Power matched her sister's first-half try on 51 minutes and Banks' claimed a second, both converted, to put Wigan 40-0 to the good in the closing stages.A consolation try from Savannah Andrade three minutes before the buzzer with Ellie Williamson adding two points allowed the visitors some measure of respectability.But it could not mask the fact that the tectonic plates have clearly shifted in the close season as Wigan look to add a second Women's Super League title following a first and only win in 2018.
Wigan: Banks; T Power T, Wilson, M Jones, Derbyshire; Foubister, Rowe; Coleman, Wilton, Gregory-Haselden, Hunter, S Power, Williams.Interchanges: Marsh, C Jones, Veivers, Atherton.York: Dagger; Partington, Renouf, Rampton, Kershaw; Rihari, Williamson; Wood, Peach, Hornby, Andrade, Parker, Bell.Interchanges: Marshall, Stimpson, Moxon, Brennan.Referee: Freddie Lincoln.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Lauren Filer leads fightback as England beat India to keep series alive
When Nat Sciver-Brunt was named as England captain in April, her teammate Tammy Beaumont might have had cause to feel slight disappointment at being overlooked, given her own success leading Welsh Fire. But at The Oval on Friday evening, with Sciver-Brunt out of the third T20 international against India with a groin injury, Beaumont finally got the chance to lead her side. More to the point, she managed a feat that has so far eluded Sciver-Brunt this summer – a win against the Indian tourists, albeit by the skin of their teeth. India had looked to be racing to victory after Shafali Verma smashed 47 from 25, while Smriti Mandhana glided her way to a half-century – but after Mandhana top-edged Lauren Filer to mid-on in the 16th over, England fought back at the death to seal a narrow five-run win. Filer thought she had Richa Ghosh next ball, caught at point, but England's DRS review was in vain as replays showed it had actually pinged off Ghosh's helmet. Lauren Bell – who had earlier shelled Shafali at deep third – then put down a tricky chance off Ghosh diving forward at short fine leg, but Charlie Dean held on to a brilliant diving catch in the deep in the 19th to make good the error. India were left needing 12 from the final over, and six from the final ball, but Harmanpreet Kaur could only fire the ball straight into the hands of mid-off. It should never have got so deep: earlier, Beaumont had contributed only two runs amid a mind-boggling late-innings collapse of nine for 31, as England squandered all the hard-won advantage of a 137-run partnership between Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge for the first wicket. Half-centuries apiece for the opening pair should have laid the perfect platform for England, especially after Wyatt-Hodge was put down twice off the left-arm spinner Shree Charani in the ninth, by Jemimah Rodrigues at deep midwicket and Harmanpreet Kaur at cover. But Dunkley – who somehow never quite looked in control in her innings of 75 – charged down the track and got a leading edge back to the bowler Deepti Sharma, before Harmanpreet held onto a second chance proffered by Wyatt-Hodge to cover. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Three Indian bowlers were handed the opportunity for hat-tricks – Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma – as Amy Jones, Issy Wong and Filer all fell to first-ball ducks, meaning England came breathtakingly close to handing India a series win. Instead, the series remains alive ahead of the fourth T20 at Manchester on Wednesday.
The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Emma Raducanu OUT of Wimbledon despite brave effort against world No1 Aryna Sabalenka
HOW do you follow up a miracle? What next, after pulling off mission impossible? Well, you attempt to do something more miraculous, more fantastical still. 9 9 And here at a volcanic Centre Court - under the roof, after dark and close to Friday-night drinking-up time - Emma Raducanu tried just that. How she tried. There have been plenty of failures for Raducanu since her extraordinary US Open triumph of 2021 - but none as glorious as this one. Against world No1 Aryna Sabalenka - the grunting Belarusian wallop merchant who has been the dominant force in the women's game for the past 18 months - Raducanu bowed out of Wimbledon in the third round. But for a player who has never beaten anyone in the world's top three, this was the feistiest of defeats. That Sabalenka prevailed 7-6 6-4 doesn't even scratch the surface. Raducanu was a break up in both sets, she saved seven set points and had one of her own in the epic 74-minute opener and was a point away from a 5-1 lead in the second. But it was Sabalenka who clinched a last-16 clash with Belgium's Elise Mertens. This three-time Major champion has reached at least the quarter-finals in her last ten Major appearances and it will be a shock if she doesn't win her first Wimbledon title next weekend. Sabalenka hits a tennis ball with extraordinary power and she roars at every point like Godzilla with a flesh wound. She is a phenomenal opponent for any woman. Yet Raducanu went toe-to-toe for two hours, only wilting at the very last. It is easy to forget that when Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title at Flushing Meadows, she did not drop a set but did not face any top-ten player. This was an entirely different test to anything she faced in the Big Apple and she had a very good go at passing it. Raducanu said Wednesday's defeat of 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova had been her best performance "in a long time" - and it was probably her most significant result since her 2021 fairytale of New York. This, however, was a major step up in class - Sabalenka has been the dominant force in the women's game for the past 18 months, a powerful, aggressive shotmaker who can intimidate the best of them. Still, Raducanu forced a break point in the opening game with a belting forehand return winner - only for Sabalenka to save it with three mighty serves. The Centre Court roof had been closed before the 8pm start after Raducanu's friend and mixed doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz had made heavy weather of winning his third-round match immediately before it. Raducanu's serve was firing early on, she was thumping aces of her own and relishing some high-quality exchanges. In the fifth game, Raducanu crowbarred out another opportunity - with a stinging winner down the line - again, Sabalenka thwarted her with another huge ace. But the Brit stuck at her task, forced two more break points - and then repelled another fierce serve before Sabalenka netted. 9 Wimbledon 2025 LIVE - follow all the latest scores and updates from a thrilling fortnight at SW19 The crowd, subdued at first, erupted as Raducanu edged in front. Soon, they would be roaring every point she won. There was zero evidence of any stage fright. We knew full well that this is a young woman capable of seizing the biggest moments, of conjuring impossibilities from the heavens. Her serves had been like guided missiles in the opening three games - locating chalkdust at high velocity. Then that service spluttered, her forehand went wonky and Sabalenka, in predatory fashion, broke her to love. Soon, Raducanu was serving to stay in the opening set, the anxiety in the crowd palpable, and the Brit's forehand continually clearing the baseline. But at set point down she found another ace - then she survived six more, fingernails on the cliff-edge, before a wonderful cross-court winner earned her one of her own. Finally, on the eighth deuce of the game, Raducanu held. Sabalenka's vain cries became bloodcurdling as the momentum shifted towards the Brit. Raducanu cracked successive winners down the line, then slipped at the net and paused to ice her right thigh, before she forced two break-points of her own - taking the second to an ear-splitting din. As the Brit served for the set, Sabalenka roared back, seized three break points and took the third to earn a tie-break. The breaker was tight - and loud - Raducanu forced the first set point but Sabalenka rescued it with a drop shot before she clinched an extraordinary set with a deft volley. The feeling was that having fallen so agonisingly short in the opener, Raducanu might crumble. She did not, breaking Sabalenka for 3-1, when the current US Open champion netted. Then Sabalenka had to save two more break points to avoid a 5-1 deficit. But once she held, the final, decisive momentum shift arrived and the Belarusian reeled off five successive games to reach round four. 9 9 9 9 9 9
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
England edge thriller to keep T20 series alive
Third T20, The OvalEngland 171-9 (20 overs): Dunkley 75 (53); Sharma 3-27India 166-5 (20 overs): Mandhana 56 (49); Filer 2-30England won by five runs; India lead series 2-1Scorecard England held their nerve to keep the T20 series alive with a thrilling last-ball victory by five runs against India at The Oval. Chasing 172 to win, India needed 12 from the last over and six off the final ball, but seamer Lauren Bell had opposing captain Harmanpreet Kaur caught at mid-off for 23 - and the hosts now only trail 2-1 in the series with two matches to play. The tourists, eyeing a series win at the earliest opportunity, were in full control, needing 49 from 42 balls with nine wickets in hand before an eye-catching spell of fast bowling from Lauren Filer changed the course of the game. Filer had Jemimah Rodrigues caught behind for 20 and star batter Smriti Mandhana, who made 56, was also beaten for pace and caught at mid-on as the quick regularly reached speeds of knock kept India in the hunt but England restricted them to 166-5 despite a flurry of dropped chances in a chaotic ending, setting up a tantalising encounter in the fourth of five T20s at Old Trafford on Wednesday. England's first innings also provided plenty of drama, as they raced to 137-0 after fine half-centuries from Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, before losing nine wickets for 31 runs in the space of 4.4 overs, and finishing with 171-9. Dunkley made 75 from 53 balls and Wyatt-Hodge struck 66 from 42, but Sophie Ecclestone's 10 was the only other score in double figures in a collapse which included three batters falling first ball. It is yet to be confirmed whether captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was ruled out of the match with a hip injury, will be fit for the rest of the series. More to follow.
