Wolves win thriller

WARRINGTON Wolves won a thrilling encounter against Hull KR at the Halliwell Jones Stadium as a last gasp try and conversion from full-back Brett Hodgson clinched victory 24-22.
In a Jekyll and Hyde performance which saw half-back talisman Lee Briers benched by Head Coach Tony Smith, only to return and help set up victory, Warrington raced into a 10-0 lead in as many minutes.
Joel Monaghan squeezed in at the corner after just three minutes, quickly followed by Richie Myler, after good play by man-of-the match Michael Monaghan, with Hodson on target with his second conversion after missing his first attempt from wide out.
But then the wheels came off as Myler made a great break which should have brought a try as Warrington started to fail to take their chances.
Then on 15 minutes Rovers were back in the game when they scored with their first real attack as Clint Newton broke through the Wolves’ defence and Michael Dobson added the extras to make it 10-6.
A rare error by full-back Shaun Briscoe as he dropped a Briers bomb gifted Warrington another chance but as Chris Riley raced over in the corner it was ruled out for a forward pass from Ryan Atkins.
Then some sustained presure from Rovers saw Blake Green go over but Dobson was surprisingly wide with the conversion leaving the scores level at 10-10.
Briers (pictured right) was benched in favour of Mickey Higham as Smith looked to get his team back on track but yet another chance went begging as a sweeping move saw Hodgson toss the ball forward as he attempted to find Monaghan on the wing.
The visitors took the lead on the half hour as a poor pass fooled the Wolves’ defence allowing Newton to pick up the loose ball and score with Dobson on target this time to make it 10-16.
Rovers knocked on from the kick off but Warrington again let another chance go begging as Myler knocked on with a four man over lap.
Warrington continued to push forward but a Ben Harrison fumble saw yet another wasted opportunity. Fortunately Rovers knocked on at the scrum giving Warrington the chance to score just before the break as Ryan Atkins squeezed in at the corner. Hodgson was again off target from out wide to make it 14-16 at the break.
Lady luck favoured the visitors early in the second half as the officials missed a blatant forward pass as Briscoe raced under the sticks, allowing Dobson to easily add the extras and at 14-22 the Wolves looked in trouble.
With the visitors defending well on their line Warrington continued to make unforced errors as Atkins knocked on while going for the line and on 55 minutes Riley had another try chalked off for another forward pass from Atkins.
But it was third time lucky for Riley on the hour as more Wolves pressure eventually paid off as he was sent in at the corner by Hodgson, who was just wide with the difficult conversion attempt making it 18-22.
Warrington continued to push and Briers returned to the pitch for the final quarter and was instrumental in the move which brought victory as his high kicks caused chaos in the Rovers defence, Hodgson forcing his way over with just three minutes left on the clock and then cooly slotting over the match winning conversion.
After the game Tony Smith admitted taking Briers off to give him an opportunity to think about things.
“We all need a kick up the backside some times and he took it like a champion,” said Smith after the game.

Pictures show match winning try scorer Brett Hodgson and Lee Briers who responeed postively to a kick up the backside after being benched by Head Coach Tony Smith.

For more pictures from the game CLICK HERE

Warrington: Brett Hodgson, Chris Riley, Matty Blythe, Ryan Atkins, Joel Monaghan, Lee Briers, Richie Myler, Adrian Morley, Michael Monaghan, Garreth Carvell, Ben Westwood, Louis Anderson, David Solomona.
Subs Ben Harrison, Paul Wood, Mickey Higham, Lee Mitchell.

Ref: T Alibert
Atten: 10,899