Wolves pay
the penalty
by Gary Skentelbery
LEADING 12-4 after half an hour Warrington Wolves looked well capable of pulling off a shock Powergen Challenge Cup victory over Bradford Bulls at Wilderspool.
But a combination of poor refereeing decisions and injuries proved costly against one of the strongest teams in Super League.
After an exchange of penalties Darren Burns powered over to put the Wolves 8-2 in front following Lee Briers conversion.
But after losing winger Rob Smyth in the opening minutes through injury as he put his body on the line to stop the Bulls scoring and then losing full-back Lee Penny with a leg injury, it took its toll on the Wolves as the Bulls plugged away, aided by a number of favourable refereeing decisions.
The lively Robbie Paul eventually pulled the Bulls back into the game and when stand-in full-back Graham Appo was sin binned, Paul Deacon was able to slot over his 4th goal of the afternoon to level the scores 12-12 at the interval. Warrington’s other points had come from the boot of Briers.
Starting the second half a man down it only took a couple of minutes for the visotrs to take advantage as Lesley Vainikolo powered his way over in the corner.
Refree Bob Connolly continued to frustrate the Wolves and Sid Domic was the next to be sin binned as he booted the ball away in frustration.
Before he was back on the pitch the Bulls had taken the game out of sight as Leon Pryce cut through the ineffective Appo followed by Vainikolo going over again in the corner.
Scott Naylor rubbed the final salt in the wounds as Deacon banged over his 7th goal of the afternoon.
Briers was the third Warrington player to feel the wrath of Connolly as he was despatched to the sin bin, meaning warrington played half an hour of the game reduced to 12 men – too much of a handicap against a team like the Bulls, who took advantage of the situation.
Warrington should not be disheartened by the final score line. Although Bradford are a stronger team the Wolves showed plenty of commitment and eventually paid the penalty for their frustrations at the poor refereeing decisions.
