Pictures Eddie Whitham
WARRINGTON Wolves were well beaten 28-2 by reigning Super League champions St Helens on Friday night with the sin-binning of George Williams a key point in the game as the hosts scored two tries.
Daryl Powell’s side hung in to the contest in a first half that saw two yellow cards, but they conceded 16 unanswered second-half points as they were kept tryless.
An injury to hooker Daryl Clark plus a spate of handling errors will give the Wolves plenty to worry about in the week.
They actually led the match after 15 minutes, Stefan Ratchford darting out of dummy half to win a penalty and then taking the two to mark his 400th career appearance.
The kicking game of George Williams was giving Warrington some sort of foothold in the contest, despite the obvious size disadvantage in comparison to the Saints pack, and they were helped too when Sione Mata’utia was sent to the sin bin for a late shot on Williams.
Picture Eddie Whitham
But before Mata’utia returned, Warrington were reduced to 12 men too, Williams the guilty party as the visitors were punished for persistent offside in a first half that yielded 11 penalties.
Off the back of that penalty, Saints got their first score – Jonny Lomax’s short kick to the corner grounded by the lively Jack Welsby.
The introduction of Agnatius Paasi and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook for the final 10 minutes of the first half freshened Saints up and as they enjoyed a man advantage at the end of Williams’ sin bin period, they got a second try.
A lovely step and change in direction by Lewis Dodd was matched by a fine angled run by Mark Percival, and he flung away the ball for the first of Tommy Makinson’s two tries.
Warrington trailed 12-2 at the break and they found the going tough at the start of the second half but wasted a glorious chance to get more points on the board.
A shift move left sent Matty Ashton haring away along the touchline, and he was eventually brought down by Welsby. From the play the ball, Williams’ kick across was caught by Oliver Holmes, only for Percival to save a try with a fine tackle.
He was, though, penalised for going high in the tackle but the Wolves wasted the field position – Danny Walker’s dummy half pass put to ground on tackle two, and that was soon to become a pattern of the second half.
Warrington coughed up possession on several occasions as they struggled to deal with the aggressive line speed of the Saints defence, that remains the benchmark for every club in Super League.
They just couldn’t get out of their own half and even when Williams was able to stop a kick through by Welsby, it went in to touch and Saints had a repeat set. From it, Makinson was left in too much space on the left and he stretched the lead to 16-2 on 55 minutes.
The game was done shortly after the hour mark when off the back of a scrum, Percival shrugged off Peter Mata’utia in a one-on-one and slid over in the corner.
The final try probably summed up Warrington’s night – Walker’s pass bouncing off the upper body of Joe Bullock and landing in the hands of Jonny Lomax to wrap up the points and a commanding victory for the home side.
St Helens: Welsby, Simm, Hopoate, Percival, Makinson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Knowles. Sub: Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Sironen, Paasi.
Warrington: Ratchford, Thewlis, Mata’utia, King, Ashton, Widdop, Williams, Bullock, D Clark, Cooper, Currie, Holmes, Hughes. Subs: Philnin, J Clark, Walker, Mulhern
He's at it 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍! 🔥
Tommy Makinson scores his second try of the game to extend St Helens' lead over Warrington Wolves. pic.twitter.com/e6Cpe0ESaN
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) March 11, 2022
