Wildcats maul woeful Wolves
Warrington's abysmal form took another nosedive as they were given a ferocious mauling by the Wildcats on Friday.
By Simon Dilger
Last Updated: 28/02/09 10:22am
Warrington Wolves' abysmal Super League form took another nosedive as they were comprehensively outgunned during a ferocious mauling by Wakefield Wildcats on Friday.
The expensively-assembled Wolves appeared painfully toothless as they went down 48-22 to Wakefield at Belle Vue.
They have now suffered defeats in their last eight games,stretching back to last season when they failed to make the play-offs.
In contrast his opposite number, John Kear, enjoyed a third win from four games and saw his side run in eight tries to move joint-top.
Warrington, under pressure from the start, were forced to drop-out twice from under their own posts inside the first seven minutes.
And it came as no surprise when the home side took the lead soon after when Matt Blaymire got on the end of Tony Martin's neat kick on eight minutes for his first try of the season
Martin converted and four minutes later the pair were in the thick of it again with a well-timed reverse pass from Martin to send Blaymire in for a quick-fire double.
Howler
It was not until 20 minutes in that Warrington put together their first attack but it ended with Martin Gleeson spilling the ball.
The mistake almost cost the visitors dear as the Wildcats counter attacked and it was left to with Dale Ferguson to ground the ball and get Warrington out of jail.
The hosts' fourth came from another howler by the Wolves, Chris Riley making a hash of fielding Martin's kick to give on-loan winger Dave Halley a walk-in try.
Anderson crossed on the half-hour mark to put Warrington's first points on the board but Chris Hicks, in line with his side's performance so far, failed to hit the mark with his kick.
Anderson then went over again before the break and this time Hicks was on target to close the gap further.
But when Riley made another mistake, Halley was quick to take advantage for Wakefield's fifth and take his side into the break leading 30-10.
The visitors began the second half with more purpose and it was only some strong goal-line defence that denied Chris Bridge on two occasions.
Outstanding
The sixth try came on 40 minutes courtesy of Ferguson, who collected Drew's pass before cantering over from close range.
The score brought up a century of points conceded by Warrington this season and Martin's sixth successful kick opened up a 26-point lead.
Warrington answered through Hicks who came in off his wing to burst through two tacklers for his side's third try before striking a touchline conversion home.
Warrington began to assert themselves but any threat of a fightback was quickly quashed thanks to an outstanding tackle from Damien Blanche on Riley.
Then, with 12 minutes remaining, Blaymire put an end to the game with his third try after Drew's kick came loose in a melee close to the line.
A neat break from Riley gave Bridge his try but Luke George quickly negated the score with one of his own to celebrate his return from a year out due to injury.
After a turbulent winter, which included the death of Adam Watene and the near-death of Jamie Rooney, Kear, the league's oldest coach, has once again revelled in the role of the underdog, inspiring his unfancied and injury-hit side to a stunning win thanks to a powerful first half performance.
