WARRINGTON Wolves’ stirring second half comeback fell short as they went down 24-18 to play-off chasing Leeds.
Trailing 24-6 at the break, Warrington dominated the second half and had a host of chances, but could only manage two converted tries and went down to a 16th league defeat of the season.
In front of a lively Headingley crowd celebrating Armed Forces Day, the hosts took the lead when the static Rhyse Martin managed to burst through a tackle and offload to ex-Wire Richie Myler. He scampered away and found Rhinos skipper Ash Handley on his inside for the first try.
With Stefan Ratchford missing through concussion, Riley Dean started at scrum half and he levelled things up with a try on 13 minutes. On a last tackle play, his kick bounced back to him off a Rhinos defender and when he turned around, there was an inviting path taking him six metres forward for a try.
But two tries in five minutes in the middle of the first half swung the game in Leeds’ favour.
First Martin shrugged off a tackle close to the line to score, and then the impressive Morgan Gannon hit an angled run at speed and his momentum took him over in the corner despite the attention of a couple of defenders.
At 18-6 down, Warrington steadied the ship and towards the end of the half had a few chances of their own.
But on the stroke of half-time, a spill by Matt Dufty looked costly as the loose ball was scooped up by James Bentley who put Zane Tetevano in under the posts to open up a three score lead at the hooter.
It looked a tall order for the Wolves given the current plight of the two sides, Leeds pushing for a play-off place and even better.
Warrington handed debuts to young forward Adam Holroyd and Luke Thomas, and they started the second half in positive fashion.
A penalty helped them get deep in to the Leeds end and from it, a long George Williams pass found Jake Wardle to cross on 47 minutes.
After that, Warrington enjoyed a lot of territory and possession through a combination of Leeds errors and penalties, as well as Williams’ kicking game forcing repeat sets.
Frustratingly though, both Williams and Daryl Clark saw moves break down through lack of support.
Leeds barely ventured in to the other end and even when they did, they neglected the opportunity to take a drop goal that would surely have ended the match.
As time went on, a Wolves win looked less likely but with eight minutes to go, they got back within a score as Ben Currie got on the end of Williams’ short kick.
That score perhaps came too late, and despite a few close calls, they were unable to find a fourth try and they fell six points short.
Leeds: Myler, Tindall, Hardaker, Sutcliffe, Handley, Austin, Sezer, Oledzki, O’Connor, Tetevano, Gannon, Martin, Bentley. Subs: Dwyer, Smith, Walters, Prior.
Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Minikin, Mata’utia, Wardle, Ashton, Williams, Dean, Mulhern, Walker, Bullock, Currie, Harrison, Holmes. Subs: D Clark, J Clark, Holroyd, Thomas.
The Wolves have fought back and there's only 6️⃣ points in it with under 10 remaining 🔮 pic.twitter.com/pL5BHyk2My
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) August 19, 2022
75'
Leeds 24-18 WireFinal 5! Come on Wire! pic.twitter.com/AP1bO66cV0
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) August 19, 2022
🏁 FT with @ResultingIT
A much improved second 40 but the hosts take the points. pic.twitter.com/hNNxrvlFuI
— Warrington Wolves (@WarringtonRLFC) August 19, 2022
