FLYING winger Gene Ormsby touches down in the corner PICTURE EDDIE WHITHAM
FLYING winger Gene Ormsby scored a hat-trick as Warrington overcame a plucky Salford 34-16 at the AJ Bell Stadium.
An acrobatic finish for his third in the left corner rounded off a hard-earned win for the Wolves, after Iestyn Harris’ injury hit side put in a brave display inspired by young half-back Theo Fages and forward Cory Paterson.
At 22-16, it was a quick thinking try from hooker Brad Dwyer, recently recalled from London Broncos and handed a new contract this week following the bizarre departure of Micky Higham to Leigh, that finally broke the Red Devils resolve.
Salford failed to heed an early warning when Fages had a kick charged down for the second time inside the first 10 minutes, that led to the opening try for Ben Currie, who blocked and then recovered the ball to score.
From the kick-off, Paterson found touch and from the resulting field position, the big second-row hit the line at speed and his power took him beyond the excellent Stefan Ratchford, playing against his former club, at full back.
Ormsby grabbed his first try of the night in the corner, and then Daryl Clark made a scything break through the middle and smartly offloaded to Ratchford, who showed neat footwork to stand up two defenders and race to the line.
But Warrington’s advantage was narrowed to 16-12 at the break, when Junior Sa’u managed to power over on the left hand side and Paterson landed a tricky conversion.
Ormsby’s second got the scoring underway in the second half, and that kept Salford beyond arm’s length as the hosts held on to the Wolves’ coat tails.
And their defensive resolve was rewarded at the other end when Niall Evalds stretched to put the ball down to reduce arrears to four, although that was short-lived – Dwyer scoring from dummy half in what was the game breaking moment in the final quarter.
In what was Ben Westwood’s 350th appearance for the Wolves, Ormsby’s hat-trick try capped victory to boost Tony Smith’s side’s top four hopes and condemn Salford to a sixth consecutive defeat.
BRAD Dwyer stretches out to score – PICTURE EDDIE WHITHAM
The team celebrate Dwyer’s try – PICTURE EDDIE WHITHAM
Salford: Evalds, Jones-Bishop, Sa’u, Walton, Johnson, Fages, Wood, Taylor, A Walne, J Walne, Paterson, Hauraki, Hansen.
Replacements: Forster, G Griffin, Hood, Morley.
Warrington: Ratchford, Penny, Bridge, Atkins, Ormsby, Patton, Myler, Hill, Clark, Sims, Currie, Westwood, Harrison.
Replacements: Laithwaite, King, Dwyer, Asotasi.
CLICK HERE for a gallery of more than 60 images – PICTURES EDDIE WHITHAM
