TWO tries from new signing Mickey Higham failed to lift Warrington as they were beaten 32-24 by Hull KR in a pre-season friendly at the Halliwell Jones Stadium last night.
The former St Helens and Wigan player went over twice from dummy half as the Wolves established an 18-10 half-time lead, but Rovers scored four tries to one after the break against a tiring Warrington outfit which was welcoming a number of players back from long term injuries including Chris Bridge and Paul Johnson.
Peter Fox and Ben Cockayne scored first-half tries for the visitors, with Ben Fisher (2), Daniel Fitzhenry and Michael Dobson touching down in the second half.
Matt King and Alex Thompson were Warrington’s other try-scorers but the home side lost stand-off Lee Briers with an arm injury.
Former Hull prop Garreth Carvell impressed on his first appearance for Warrington, while Bridge, Johnson and Steve Pickersgill all made successful returns from their long-term injuries.
Teams:
Warrington: Chris Hicks; Paul Johnson, Martin Gleeson, Matt King, Kevin Penny; Lee Briers, Michael Monaghan; Michael Cooper, Mickey Higham, Paul Rauhihi, Ben Westwood, Lee Mitchell, Matty Blythe. Subs used: Adrian Morley, Paul Wood, Garreth Carvell, Steve Pickersgill, Ben Harrison, Chris Bridge, Alex Thompson, James Mendeika. Tyrone McCarthy.
Hull Kingston Rovers: Shaun Briscoe; Peter Fox, Chev Walker, Kris Welham, Ben Cockayne; Paul Cooke, Michael Dobson; Nick Fozzard, Daniel Fitzhenry, Mick Vella, Stanley Gene, Ben Galea, Scott Murrell. Subs all used: Ben Fisher, Scott Wheeldon, Makali Aizue, David Mills, Ryan Esders.
Referee: J Child.