Warrington Wolves v St Helens verdict as injury-hit Wolves secure much-needed win

Warrington Wolves bounced back to winning ways with a comfortable 32-18 win over St Helens on Thursday night.

Here’s our verdict.

Action

The pressure was on both sides to win this one, with Warrington and St Helens dropping points over the Easter weekend. It was Warrington who started the faster of the two sides at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, though, with George King making the most of some woeful St Helens defending to get the scoreboard moving.

Stepping to the side of Dayon Sambou with ease, King made St Helens pay for their earlier knock on by dotting down.

Marc Sneyd helped Wire build on that with his 40/20 providing the platform for Matty Ashton’s first of the night, with some quick hands seeing the winger over in the corner.

St Helens hit back after Warrington mistakenly allowed Tristan Sailor’s kick off bounce out into touch, with Jon Bennison scoring from the restart.

Ashton scored his second of the night to give the Wolves some breathing space, with Toby King collecting Sneyd’s loose pass to put the speedster away. However, a Mark Percival double gave St Helens something to cling into going into the break.

His first came after standing up King before rounding him to touch down. The second was a little more controversial, powering over the line before referee Liam Moore deemed him to have touched the ball down under a crowd of bodies.

Ashton grabbed his hat-trick acrobatically at the start of the second half following a superb cut out pass by Ben Currie and a smart pass from King.

That was before Matt Dufty produced a remarkable moment, plucking the ball from between his legs to put Josh Thewlis down the line. The winger slung a pass inside to Rodrick Tai, who stumbled and slid over the line from 10m out.

And, Dufty put the result beyond doubt as he skipped by Sambou to finish under the sticks. Bennison grabbed a consolation try late on.

Star man

Matty Ashton. A hat-trick of the finest quality for the England international set Warrington on their way to victory. Unfortunately he failed a HIA after taking a head knock in the second half and will now miss Magic Weekend.

Good day for

Sam Burgess. The Warrington boss needed the win after successive losses and his side came through the adversity of losing Sneyd and Ashton to get it. He’ll leave the Halliwell Jones with a smile on his face this evening.

Bad day for

Marc Sneyd. Had a key role to play in the first half but picked up a head knock just before the break and failed his HIA during the interval. He’ll miss Magic Weekend now as a result.

Bigger picture

Warrington Wolves have come under a lot of scrutiny of late but they came good against a Saints team that continues to lose games against the bigger teams in the competition. It doesn’t get any easier for the side in primrose and blue, though, with Wigan Warriors waiting for them in Newcastle before a Challenge Cup semi-final with Leigh Leopards and games against Wakefield Trinity and league leaders Hull KR.

St Helens have now lost to Warrington three times this season and fans will be struggling to remember the last time they saw their side claim a win over a play-off rival. They face Leeds Rhinos next week and another defeat there would not go down well.

Teams

Warrington Wolves: Matt Dufty; Josh Thewlis, Toby King, Rodrick Tai, Matty Ashton; Danny Walker, Marc Sneyd; Paul Vaughan, Sam Powell, Luke Yates; Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Dan Russell; Ben Currie.

Bench: James Harrison, Joe Philbin, Zane Musgrove, Jordy Crowther.

St Helens: Tristan Sailor; Jon Bennison, Dayon Sambou, Mark Percival, Lewis Murphy; Jack Welsby, George Whitby; Alex Walmsley, Daryl Clark, Matty Lees; Curtis Sironen, Matt Whitley; Morgan Knowles.

Bench: Agnatius Paasi, George Delaney, Noah Stephens, Moses Mbye.