Asotasi makes debut as Wolves beat Leigh

ROY Asotasi made his first appearance in primrose and blue as Warrington Wolves defeated Leigh 34-20 in a pre-season friendly on Sunday.
Winger Kevin Penny, who returned to the club from Swinton in a surprise signing in the off season, grabbed a hat-trick of tries as a youthful side reversed a 16-12 half time deficit.
There were brief appearances for first team regulars Mickey Higham and Stefan Ratchford, while Wolves fans saw plenty of another new signing, prop Anthony England, who played for more than an hour at Leigh Sports Village.
Penny opened the scoring on six minutes, sliding over in the right corner after opposite number Alex Brown had got caught off his wing.
The Wolves impressed with their defensive line speed for long periods of the match, but it proved to be their undoing for the Centurions first score. Pinned back in their own 20 on the last, Martyn Ridyard was rushed on the last tackle and his flick pass set up a break for Stuart Littler, who exchanged passes with Adam Higson, before sending Ryan Brierley in for a superb score under the posts.
A Ridyard 40-20 then set the platform for Leigh’s second try for Higson down the right, before Wolves levelled the scores at 12 each through Penny.
The Championship side went in to half time in the lead, Higson picking the ball up from around his ankles and managing to find the corner despite the presence of three defenders.
Asotasi and Higham appeared for the final two minutes for the first half, and their presence at the start of the second enabled the Wolves to get a grip of the game.
A lovely inside pass by Ben Currie set up Jordan Burke to race in from 40 metres, and Penny got his hat-trick following a blistering break by Gene Ormsby down the left, supported by Burke.
Leigh weren’t done yet, and reduced arrears to 24-20 on 52 minutes when momentum took big Ryan Duffy over the line from close range, with what proved to be their last scoring play of the match.
Warrington’s youngsters then ran in two tries in the final 15 minutes.
A solid run by James Laithwaite enabled Ryan Shaw to force his way over the line and then Joe Philbin took Glenn Riley’s ball to put the result beyond doubt.