King scores hat-trick as Warrington Wolves end losing run

WARRINGTON Wolves ended their five-match losing run with a 32-18 win at home to Salford.

Toby King crossed for a hat-trick of tries and the winger outside of him Matty Ashton scored two for Daryl Powell’s side.

With the returning Stefan Ratchford slotting in at scrum half, it was the sort of steady performance Wolves would have wanted after a difficult run.

King got them underway on seven minutes as he darted out of dummy half quickly from 10 metres out to slide over after Josh Thewlis’ nice tip pass had created room for Matty Ashton.

Gareth Widdop, who suffered a nasty looking knock early doors chasing his own kick and clattering in to an advertising hoarding, helped set up the second try.

His spiralling kick from just inside his own half was allowed to bounce by Ryan Brierley and Ken Sio, with King racing forward to claim the loose ball and touch down.

Widdop did well to last the 80 minutes – although he was sinbinned barely 10 seconds from the end – having looked to be moving gingerly after his early knock.

Everything Warrington did in attack was down the left and that enabled Ashton to get his first try of the evening on the half hour mark with Salford down to 12 men following the sinbinning of Ryan Brierley.

Brierley had held down King after a searing break down the left by Ben Currie.

At 16-0, it looked like a first half that the doctor ordered.

But Salford got a score right on the hooter. Josh Charnley gifted Salford field position by failing to comprehensively deal with a Marc Sneyd kick, and from it, Brierley kicked to the corner for Ken Sio to touch down.

That made the first score of the second half crucial, and Salford started well.

It swung though when, with Deon Cross down in back play, Currie once again broke away down the left to set up the field position for Joe Philbin to eventually find his way over – taking on a lovely delicate pass by Daryl Clark to crash under the sticks.

Although Andy Ackers found his way over from dummy half barely metres out, Warrington always had Salford at arms length.

Ashton’s second, an acrobatic finish in the corner, and King’s hat-trick try off a lovely run line and an equally sublime Currie pass made the points safe.

After Widdop’s late yellow card, Salford did score on the hooter through Brierley but by then Warrington had the points in the bag ahead of Easter Monday’s trip to Hull.

Warrington Wolves: Thewlis, Charnley, Mata’utia, King, Ashton, Widdop, Ratchford, Mulhern, Clark, Cooper, Currie, Hughes, Magoulias. Subs: Philbin, Bullock, Longstaff, Walker.

Salford: Brierley, Sio, Cross, Lafai, Burgess, Croft, Sneyd, Ormondroyd, Ackers, Vuniyayawa, Taylor, Lannon, Wells. Subs: Gerrard, Akauola, Addy, Atkin.