Defence provides backbone for superb Wolves victory

A SUPERB defensive performance provided the backbone for Warrington Wolves to inflict a 22-12 defeat on reigning champions Leeds Rhinos at the Halliwell Jones.
It provided new Head Coach Jimmy Lowes with his seventh win from eight games and at last the scalp of a team above the Wolves in the league as Warrington consolidated 4th spot.
In a tight first half Warrington looked as though they would be made to pay the penalty for not taking their chances as the Rhinos took the lead on 30 minutes when Prop Kylie Leululi powered over. Kevin Sinfield added the extras to make it 0-6.
But three minutes from the break teenage back rower Lee Mitchell broke clear to feed the supporting Chris Hicks who sent Matt King in at the corner for his 5th try in five games.
The normally reliable Hicks, who had already missed a relatively simple penalty attempt was wide with the conversion to leave Warrington trailing 4-6 at the break.
Warrington’s props Paul Rauhihi and Adrian Morley led by example and were both in outstanding form and it was good work by them both which led to Warrington taking the lead on 45 minutes.
Rauhihi powered up the middle sucking in three tacklers and then Morley charged through carving open the Leeds defence to allow the supporting Jon Clarke to race under the the sticks. Hicks added the two to put the Wolves 10-6 in front.
Hicks then went in at the corner on 50 minutes after good hands by Briers, Monaghan and King but was again wide with the conversion. Five minutes later he was in at the opposite corner after good work by Briers and Martin Gleeson but was again off target.
Then on 65th minutes 19-year-old Mitchell scored the try of the night bursting through two would be tacklers on half way and then outstripping the Leeds cover, shaking off two tacklers to score a stunning try on top of a very impressive performance, only his second start of the season. Hicks was again wide with his 5th miss of the night.
Leeds got a late consolation from Kylie Leululi with his second try of the night after eventually breaking down Warrington’s stuborn defence, which was bolstered by a big effort from Briers, not normally noted for his defensive effort.
After the match skipper Adrian Morley said he believed it had been Warrington’s “best all round performance of the season.”
He added:”It was disappointing to let them in at the end but to restrict Leeds to just two tries takes some doing.
“This result has been building for a few weeks now and this was a true test. I am really proud of the boys. We have now got more belief and confidence and winning becomes a habit!”
Head Coach Jimmy Lowes said:”We needed to be good defensively and we made it hard for ourselves by giving a lot of ball away and we should have won by more points. But defencively that was bob on!”
One downside to Warrington’s victory was the loss of Kiwi second rower Louise Anderson with a suspected broken arm midway through the first half, who could now miss the rest of the season alongside his older brother Vinnie, currently sidelined with a shoulder injury.