Bramley Buffaloes 48

Warrington Wizards 28

WARRINGTON Wizards suffered defeat at the hands of in-form Bramley Buffaloes in rugby league's LHF Healthplan National League Three at the weekend.

The lead changed hands several times in a high-quality game but the dismissal of Wizards centre Danny Shaw 15 minutes into the second half allowed the home side to gain a 20-point success, with the one-man advantage taking its toll in the searing heat.

Wizards head coach Eddie Harris said: "We matched them for almost an hour but once we were down to 12 men they pulled away and the final score wasn't a fair reflection of the game.

"We feel that it is two points that we should have gained but we have to put this to the back of our minds now and focus on our next game at home to St Albans on June 24."

Bramley were leading 26-22 when Shaw received the red card and the game turned on its head as the home side added three quick tries.

Earlier, Wizards opened the scoring when stand off Chris Mellor went through a gap in the Buffaloes defence.

After Bramley hit back with two tries, Wizards winger David Yii intercepted a Bramley pass and raced 50 metres to level the scores.

Bramley moved ahead again but two minutes before the break inspirational skipper Mellor forced his way over to make it 16-16, while Stuart Pirrie put Ian Stephenson over to hand Wizards a 22-16 lead three minutes into the second half.

The restart was dropped by Wizards and, after Buffaloes centre Paul Gleadhill pounced on the loose ball to score, it was all downhill from there for Wizards.

The Wizards A team return to action in the Rugby League Conference against Chester Wolves on Saturday.

The game will take place at ICI Recreation Club in Widnes, with Wizards' players meeting at Eagle Sports Club at 12.30pm.