Woeful Wolves miss out

WOEFUL Warrington missed the chance to go second in the Super League after going down to a 16-2 against Wakefield on a bleak day at Belle Vue.
To cap it all for the Wolves, second rower Ben Westwood, playing against his home town club, was sent off in the second half, effectively ending their chances of staging a comeback.
Tries from Scott Grix and Sam Obst, plus four goals from Danny Brough, had already handed the injury-hit Wildcats a healthy advantage. And, as the sleet and snow came down, they held out thereafter with little problem.
The match rarely came to life, with referee Ashley Klein awarding 24 penalties and producing the yellow card three times – one to Westwood – before the Warrington forward received his marching orders.
Wakefield eked out their advantage in a scrappy first half punctuated by stoppages and which ended with three players in the sin-bin.
Warrington took the lead when Chris Hicks slotted a penalty.
But Danny Brough, who was a constant thorn in the Wolves’ side with his kicking game responded in kind and it was his long pass which then allowed Danny Sculthorpe to put Grix over in the corner for Wakefield’s opening try.
After persistent infringements, Westwood was the first player sent to the sin-bin on the half hour, and he was followed by Wakefield pair Tony Martin and Jamie Rooney before half time.
Rooney’s infringement was the more blatant, the stand-off holding down Wolves centre Matt King after a break by Kevin Penny down the left wing.
Warrington pressed from the resulting restart but Paul Johnson knocked on close to the line.
The Wildcats carried their dominance into the second half and were rewarded when a slick move involving Duncan MacGillivray and the restored Rooney was finished off by Obst under the posts.
With Wolves substitute Steve Pickersgill having been carried off the field injured, the visitors’ task grew harder just after the hour when Westwood finally departed the field for a high tackle.
Wakefield’s only subsequent cause for alarm came when Warrington pieced together a move up the middle which ended just short of the line when Penny spilled the ball.