Wakefield 16 Warrington 2: Westwood off as Wolves fail again
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Your support makes all the difference.Wakefield produced a performance full of character and grit as they inflicted Warrington's second defeat in eight days after starting without eight first-team regulars.
Ben Westwood was sent off for the visitors midway through the second half. The referee, Ashley Klein, took action on the advice of his touch judge after Westwood's heavy challenge on Adam Watene. The Wolves' hopes had already faded by that stage. Their coach, Paul Cullen, said: "We got what we deserved and we've paid the ultimate price for not controlling the ball. Individual errors that we're committing are really detracting from what we want to do."
Warrington started well enough, Chris Hicks kicking a simple penalty after their hosts committed three offences in three minutes. However, Wakefield were quick to strike back. Danny Brough's penalty levelled the scores before Danny Sculthorpe's long pass created space for Scott Grix to cross in the corner.
Two more penalties from Brough gave Wakefield an eight-point buffer at half time, despite Klein showing three yellow cards before the interval.
Wakefield's Tony Martin and Jamie Rooney joined Westwood for temporary spells on the sidelines but Warrington failed to make the most of their advantage. Instead, Wakefield pro-duced a sucker punch when they were back to their full compliment of players. Grix supported Duncan Mac-Gillivray's burst before finding Rooney and his short pass sent Sam Obst on a clear run to the line.
Westwood's dismissal added salt to the Wolves' wounds, coming just four minutes after one of their substitutes, Steve Pickersgill, was carried off with a twisted knee. Wakefield's injury list was also extended, Kevin Henderson being taken to hospital with a suspected broken leg.
"It was a win built on team spirit," said the home side's coach, John Kear. "We came out with a lot of credit and got our reward. To restrict Warrington to no tries is a magnificent effort. I'm absolutely delighted."
Wakefield: Blaymire; S Gleeson, Martin, Atkins, Grix; Rooney, Brough; Watene, Obst, Moore, MacGillivray, Golden, Sculthorpe. Substitutes used: Bibey, Henderson, Wilkes, Leo-Latu.
Warrington: Hicks; Riley, Johnson, King, Penny; Clarke, Monaghan; Morley, M Gleeson, Rauhihi, L Anderson, Westwood, V Anderson. Substitutes used: Parker, Pickergsill, Bracek, Harrison.
Referee: A Klein (Silsden).
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