WARRINGTON Wolves slipped to a shock home defeat 16-18 to lowly Salford at a rain drenched Halliwell Jones Stadium as the visitors adapted better to the poor weather conditions.
With constant rain, Warrington were unable to play fast flowing rugby which had seen the team rattle up more than 400 points in their last six outings.
The Wolves also look jaded as Tony Smith fielded six of his players who featured int he Exiles match less than 48 hours earlier.
Warrington started brightly enough but Salford came from 10-6 down at half-time to win with tries from Luke Patten and Mark Henry.
Sean Gleeson got Salford’s first try, cancelling out Chris Bridge’s early effort, Lee Briers (pictured right) and Richie Myler, late on, crossed for the Wolves.
But Salford deserved their victory as they made fewer unforced errors, avenging their 60-0 home defeat by The Willows on Good Friday as they completed back-to back Super League victories.
Six Warrington players figured after Friday’s Origin international – Bridge, Myler and England colleagues Garreth Carvell, Ben Westwood and Adrian Morley, as well as Exiles full-back Brett Hodgson.
But Louis Anderson, injured in the Exiles’ victory, missed out on the chance to face his elder brother Vinnie, while Joel Monaghan was also out injured.
The Wolves also missed the in form Matt King, absent following the birth of his daughter on Thursday, with Tyrone McCarthy returning from loan at Leigh.
The visitors fell behind when Chris Nero threw out a wild pass and Bridge latched onto a Myler kick which eluded Patten to score in the corner after 11 minutes. Henry saved another try, holding up Ryan Atkins over the line after constant Warrington pressure.
But Salford’s first raid saw Wayne Godwin and Daniel Holdsworth combine for Gleeson to power through tackles by Myler and Atkins.
Skipper Holdsworth tagged on the conversion to fire the Reds into a 6-4 lead. But, seven minutes later, Myler was held short, Briers dummied and strolled through a big gap on the overlap, Hodgson booting the conversion for an interval lead.
But Salford snatched two tries in four minutes early in the second half.
Patten took Gleeson’s pass to scorch 30 metres for a converted try. Then the Reds full-back combined with Holdsworth to give Henry a walk-in at the corner.
Holdsworth added the touchline conversion to make it 18-10 and it could have been worse for Warrington had referee Ben Thaler not disallowed a Stefan Ratchford try.
After Paul Wood was carried off with a leg injury nine minutes from time, Myler’s late try set up a garndstand finish.
But, although his 11th league try of the campaign, converted by Hodgson, cut the gap to two points, Salford held out for a deserved victory.
Warrington coach Tony Smith said after the game: “It was a disruptive week but we are here to support the international programme and we would do the same again, if the price to pay was a sub-standard performance.
“Take nothing away from Salford. They handled the conditions well. We have not played in wet weather for ages and did not handle it well.
“Every team has a below-par performance now and again and we have not had one for a long time.”
For more pictures from the game CLICK HERE
Wolves:
Hodgson; Bridge, Blythe, Atkins, Williams; Briers, Myler; Morley, M Monaghan, Carvell, Solomona, Westwood, Grix. Replacements: Higham, Wood, Cooper, McCarthy.
Salford:
Patten; Henry, Gleeson, Ratchford, Broughton; Smith, Holdsworth; Cashmere, Godwin, Boyle, L Adamson, Nero, Anderson. Replacements: Jewitt, Paleaaesina, Sidlow, Neal.
Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield).
1 Comment
Awww poor Wolves finding excuses as usual.