Pictures Eddie Whitham
WARRINGTON Wolves made it five from five with a comfortable 38-20 win over Leigh Leopards.
Five former Wire players had an unhappy return to the Halliwell Jones Stadium, as Matty Ashton’s eight-minute second-half hat-trick sealed the points.
Both sides had men sin-binned, with Leigh managing to claw at least some respectability back on the scoreline during a late 10-minute stint for Sam Kasiano on the sidelines.
An electric start set the tone for an entertaining Friday night, as the Wolves opened the scoring within 32 seconds. Matt Dufty broke down the right from deep inside his own half and found Josh Drinkwater on his inside, with the Australian winning the footrace to the corner to score his first Wolves try.
Josh Drinkwater from deep after JUST 33 seconds for @WarringtonRLFC 🤯#SuperLeague #SLWarLei pic.twitter.com/dLFnAVjFt2
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 17, 2023
Imperious forward Paul Vaughan and front-row partner Tom Mikaele created a platform for the hosts and Leigh simply couldn’t handle them early doors, with Vaughan crashing over for try number two following successive penalties.
A Warrington error helped the Leopards get on the board 10 minutes in, with a dropped ball in the tackle presenting possession to the visitors 30 metres out. Although ex-Wire Josh Charnley neglected to try and beat Josh Thewlis on the outside, Leigh didn’t waste the opportunity as a few tackles later they shifted it right and Joe Mellor’s delayed pass created space for Tom Briscoe in the right corner.
There was some fortune in Warrington’s third try, as Drinkwater’s cross-field kick evaded the grasp of a number of players and bounced kindly in to the in-goal for Stefan Ratchford to touch down.
Warrington took real control of the game when Drinkwater dummied his way through the same right channel Dufty had found earlier, breaking through and finding Daryl Clark on his inside, who in turn put Dufty in under the sticks.
Leigh were a threat outwide and they kept themselves in the game with a late first-half score, when Ricky Leutele put Charnley over.
A warm welcome for former Wire Josh Charnley – Picture Eddie Whitham
While Daryl Powell would have been happy at the break, he would have known Leigh were still in the game, but that didn’t last for long.
The first of Ashton’s eight-minute hat-trick came on 43 minutes when on the last tackle, Ben Currie popped out an unlikely offload for the winger to score in the corner. Great hands by Ratchford set up his second, and then a long Danny Walker pass created space for Ashton to cross for a third in the 51st minute as the Wolves opened up a 38-8 lead.
That proved to be the home side’s last score, despite Leigh spending 10 minutes with 12 men following a yellow card for Edwin Ipape.
Leigh took advantage of their own numerical advantage late on, scoring two late tries through Tom Amone and Zak Hardaker, though the game was long gone by then.
Warrington: Dufty, Thewlis, Mata’utia, Ratchford, Ashton, Williams, Drinkwater, Mikaele, Clark, Vaughan, Currie, Nicholson, Kasiano. Subs: Philbin, Walker, Minikin, Thomas. 18th man: Whitehead.
Leigh: O’Brien, Briscoe, Hardaker, Leutele, Charnley, Mellor, Lam, Amone, Davis, Mulhern, Shorrocks, O’Donnell, Asiata. Subs: Nakubuwai, Seumanufagai, Hughes, Ipape. 18th man: Chamberlain.
An eight-minute hat-trick for @WarringtonRLFC's @MattyyAshton 🐺#SuperLeague #SLWarLei pic.twitter.com/XjMW9zXjAA
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 17, 2023
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