Rugby

Report

The Warrington Wolves killed off a spirited Bradford Bulls side with a devastating second-half performance which resulted in a 33 - 08 victory, at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, in the engage Super League.

Tries from Andy Lynch and Paul Sykes gave the Bulls a half-time advantage with Richie Myler crossing for Warrington on his return from injury.

But an awesome second-half display that included two tries apiece for Ryan Atkins and Matt King as well as one from Michael Monaghan ensured a comprehensive win for the Wolves.

Myler's return to the side meant Monaghan reverted to hooker and Mickey Higham dropped to the bench.

Winger Rikki Sheriffe was back in the Bradford side after recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss last week's win over Wigan Warriors.

The only other change saw Glenn Hall start in place of Jamie Langley in the forwards.

Matt Orford missed a chance to give the visitors the lead in the 11th minute with his penalty attempt coming back off the upright and Warrington recovering the ball in the resulting scramble.

Both sides struggled to gain momentum with a number of handling errors costing them.

Nick Scruton came closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening 20 minutes but he was held up after a surging run to the line.

But the visitors opened the scoring after the midway point of the first half.

Warrington full-back Chris Riley dropped a towering high ball, leading to a sustained period of pressure for the Bulls that ended in Lynch crashing over the line.

After a video referral the try was given. Orford missed the conversion.

Warrington hit back with Myler racing over from more than 30 metres following a searing break in midfield from Higham. Chris Bridge added the conversion.

But Bradford reclaimed the lead three minutes before the break with Orford creating the space to send Sykes over the line but the centre could not convert his try.

Warrington went on the attack immediately after half-time. And they gained their reward when Atkins went over in the corner to put the hosts back in the lead.

After Higham was held up over the line a couple of plays earlier, Warrington fizzed the ball across the backline and King drew two defenders before sending Atkins over. Bridge's conversion attempt fell short.

Warrington gained some breathing space on the scoreboard minutes later when King went flying over in the same corner after some good work from Louis Anderson.

And there was even more joy down the left flank for Warrington straight from the next kick-off.

Again King caused havoc for the Bulls' defence and, once behind the defence, he delayed his pass just enough to give Atkins time to race to the line. Bridge added his third conversion.

Monaghan got in on the act as he crossed with 12 minutes remaining without a Bulls defender laying a hand on the hooker - Bridge converted again.

Monaghan then added a drop-goal whilst King crossed the line in the final minutes to be awarded a "Benifit of Doubt" try  which was then converted to cap a resounding win.

POST-MATCH COMMENTS

Warrington coach Tony Smith insisted his Warrington team will have a lot to learn from their first-half performance following the 33-8 victory over Bradford.

"It was an ugly first half again," Smith said. "We are making a bit of a habit of it but fortunately we are making a habit of getting it in order for the second half.

"I think that is the third team we have shut out in the second half, which is encouraging."

"From a team point of view it was one good half and one half that we will look at and learn from."

As well as praising Atkins and King for their tries, Smith emphasised the impact of forward Adrian Morley.

"Not many props can do 80 minutes but he earned 80 minutes, I did not do him any favours tonight," Smith said.

"He earned the right to stay on the field. How he got overlooked for the man-of-the-match award I will never know."

Opposite number Steve McNamara blamed a lack of concentration for the handling errors that littered his side's performance after a promising start.

"It was nip and tuck there but unfortunately for us we just imploded with the number of errors we kept making," he said.

"I'll accept anyone who makes an error, it's part of the game. It is the lack of concentration and application which really hurts and there was some of that in the game for us and we won't tolerate it."

"We put ourselves under pressure and it became too much in that last 20 minutes."

"In the second half we repeatedly made errors coming out of our own end and against a side of Warrington's quality you are not going to get away with it."

"In the first half both sides were off the mark in terms of skill levels and whichever side picked it up in the second half would go on to win the game."