Warrington Beat Wakefield To Extend Winning Start

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Warrington Wolves (14) 27


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


Wakefield Trinity (2) 16


Tries: Jowitt, Myers, Pratt Goals: Jowitt 2


Warrington survived a strong Wakefield fightback in the 2nd half to make it two wins from two 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 on the planet Club Challenge, seemed to have taken a firm grip on the game in the very first half.


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


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


Wire responded as Australian beginner Josh Smith crossed for his very first shot however Oliver Pratt's rating for Trinity established a nervy ending, with the outcome settled by Sneyd's drop goal and Toby King's late try.


Wire gave further proof that they might make a fist of challenging for honours this season as Sneyd provided a kicking masterclass and they had the protective resilience to hold company as Trinity came good.


Wakefield had won the previous three meetings of these 2, but they were quickly in trouble as Sneyd slotted over a penalty and then video referee Chris Kendall overturned an on-field decision of "no try" to offer 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 right at the end of the half by devoting repeat offenses which saw Sipley sin-binned and Jowitt kick the resulting charge to provide his side a toe-hold.


That became a firmer platform early in the second half as Trinity utilized the additional man, Trueman slinging a fine pass over the top for Jowitt to score in the corner.


Sipley's first act upon returning to the field was a ruck violation which caused Trueman developing an even better looping cut-out pass and Myers finished to cut the result in just four 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 first-class rugby for the very first time, to score his first shot, which Sneyd converted and after that added a charge to provide his side breathing room.


Pratt then got on the end of a great kick by Jack Sinfield to score in the corner and when Jowitt brilliantly nailed the tough conversion, the video game was back in the balance.


Wakefield seemed certain to score as Myers spotted 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 splendid deal with to bundle him into touch and keep the lead.


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


Six-try St Helens thrash Catalans in Perpignan


'An actually high-quality game'


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


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


"In the very first half we might have assaulted a little much better. There are areas we can look at where we can challenge a bit more and ask a couple of more concerns.


"The method the game is going, it will take teams eight to 10 weeks to figure it out, and it's the exact same with us. Our persistence was excellent at times and we were 100% in the first half until 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