Warrington Beat Wakefield To Extend Winning Start

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Warrington Wolves (14) 27


Tries: Sipley, Hopoate, Smith, King Goals: Sneyd 5 Drop objective: Sneyd


Wakefield Trinity (2) 16


Tries: Jowitt, Myers, Pratt Goals: Jowitt 2


Warrington endured a strong Wakefield fightback in the 2nd half to make it two wins from 2 in Super League.


The Wolves, who were coming off the back of a blank weekend due to the fact that of Hull Kingston Rovers' involvement worldwide Club Challenge, seemed to have taken a firm grip on the video game in the very first half.


Tries from Toafofoa Sipley and Albert Hopoate, in addition to the dependable kicking of Marc Sneyd, had them 14-2 up at the break.


Trinity, who chalked up their very first win of the season at last week, returned well as Jake Trueman brilliantly produced attempts for Max Jowitt and Jayden Myers.


Wire responded as Australian newcomer Josh Smith crossed for his very first shot but Oliver Pratt's score for Trinity set up a nervy ending, with the outcome settled by Sneyd's drop goal and Toby King's late shot.


Wire provided additional evidence that they could make a fist of challenging for honours this season as Sneyd offered a kicking masterclass and they had the defensive resilience to hold company as Trinity came good.


Wakefield had actually won the previous 3 meetings of these 2, however they were quickly in difficulty as Sneyd slotted over a penalty and after that video referee Chris Kendall overturned an on-field decision of "no try" to provide Sipley four points.


A couple of minutes later, Hopoate supported Danny Walker's break to streak away for another try for 14-0.


Wire seemed to have made a costly error as they reacted to strong Wakefield pressure right at the end of the half by committing repeat offences which saw Sipley sin-binned and Jowitt kick the resulting charge to give his side a toe-hold.


That became a firmer platform early in the 2nd half as Trinity made use of the extra male, Trueman slinging a great pass over the top for Jowitt to score in the corner.


Sipley's very first act on returning to the field was a ruck infringement which caused Trueman creating an even better looping cut-out pass and Myers finished to cut the result in simply 4 points.


That spurred Wire into action after a drop in tempo and Sneyd's boot took control as he chipped the ball out to Smith, playing top-notch rugby for the first time, to score his very first shot, which Sneyd transformed and then added a charge to provide his side breathing area.


Pratt then got on completion of a fine kick by Jack Sinfield to score in the corner and when Jowitt remarkably nailed the difficult conversion, the video game was back in the balance.


Wakefield seemed certain to score as Myers streaked for the corner but 20-year-old full-back Cai Taylor-Wray, who wowed the crowd with his assaulting expertise versus St Helens, produced a stunning tackle to bundle him into touch and maintain the lead.


Sneyd dropped a goal and then chipped another delicate kick to the corner for Smith to grab and pass in mid-air for King to get rid of any doubt.


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'An actually high-quality video game'


"It was a truly high-quality game. Both sides were at 90-something percent conclusion.


"They were physical and we had to ride out the first half however the video game lost its way a bit in the 2nd half - [it was] not down to the players, it just got a bit stop-start.


"In the first half we might have attacked a little much better. There are areas we can take a look at where we can challenge a little bit more and ask a few more questions.


"The way the game is going, it will take teams eight to 10 weeks to figure it out, and it's the very same with us. Our persistence was good at times and we were 100% in the very first half till the regrettable sin-binning."


Warrington Wolves: Taylor-Wray; Thewlis, King, Hopoate, Smith; Williams, Sneyd; Yates, Walker, Byrne, Stone, Harrison, Currie.


Replacements: Sipley, Crowther, Philbin, Tanginoa.


Wakefield Trinity: Jowitt; Pratt, Scott, Hall, Myers; Sinfield, Trueman; McMeeken, Smoothy, Hamlin-Uele, Nikotemo, Vagana, Tevaga.


Replacements: Storton, Pitts, Faatili, Smith.


Referee: Liam Rush