Wolves slay Giants

WARRINGTON Wolves backed up their stunning victory at Bradford with a convincing 40-18 victory over third placed Huddersfield Giants who tasted defeat on the road for the first time this season.
A hat-trick of tries from man-of-the match Chris Hicks, who also weighed in with six goals, formed the foundation for a comfortable victory as the Wolves recorded their 4th league success of the campaign.
But the victory came at a price as playmaker Lee Briers was forced off midway through the second half with a hamstring injury which will be a worry for Head of Coaching Tony Smith a head of the Magic Weekend at Edinburgh next Sunday when Warrington take on Hull KR.
It took just two minutes for the Wolves to breach the shakey Giants defence when Warrington took advantage of a penalty for full-back Chris Riley to send Matt King in at the corner, with Hicks adding the conversion from wide out for the perfect start to make it 6-0.
Two minutes later another Giants penalty saw Warrington take full advantage as a delayed pass from Briers allowed Chris Bridge to put Hicks in at the corner to make it 10-0 as Hicks was just wide with the difficult conversion attempt.
The Giants got back in the game on 18 minutes when Paul Johnson fumbled a high bomb allowing Warrington born Simon Finnegan to race over with full-back Brett Hodgson adding the extras to make it 10-6.
Back came Warrington as the Giants gave away another penalty as Hicks grabbed his second try after a towering cross field kick by the influential Michael Monaghan was collected by Ben Westwood, who kept the ball alive, allowing Hicks to touch down. Hicks hit the post with his conversion attempt.
Hicks completed his hat-trick on 28 minutes after a sweeping move saw Bridge side-step the defence and then fend off would be tacklers opening up the space for Hicks to score again in the right hand corner. This time his conversion attempt just fell short of the cross bar.
As Warrington targeted the right hand corner as a weakness in the Giants defence Hicks was denied a 4th try for obstruction just before the break but extended the lead with a penalty right on the hooter after a foul on Westwood, to make it 20-6.
The Giants needed to score first in the second half to have any hope of getting something from the game and they did just that on 45 minutes when Centre Paul Whatuira broke through some woeful tackling with Hodgson adding a great conversion from wide out to make it 20-12.
Monaghan, who had been taken off after suffering a head injury, returned to the fray as the Wolves appeared a little lost without him.
His return provided near instant results as Vinnie Anderson was held up just short after a strong run and then Monaghan forced the Giants to make a goal line drop out from his tactical kick.
A minute later Monaghan was touching down after dummying his way over. Hicks converted in off the post to put the Wolves back in control at 26-12.
Sustained Warrington pressure saw Riley, who was now on the wing after swapping positions with Hicks, extend the lead with a try in the corner, which Hicks did well to convert from wide out to make it 32-12.
With the clock ticking down the Giants closed the gap when full-back Hodgson raced under the posts and converted to make it 32-18 but Warrington had the last say as the Giants full-back kicked ahead only for the ball to bounce kindly for Riley to collect in his own half, to race clear and score. Hicks added the conversion and a last second penalty to complete the scoring at 40-18.

Pictures show Prop Garreth Carvell and Hooker Mickey Higham in action.

Teams:
Warrington: Riley, Hicks, Bridge, King, Johnson, Briers, Monaghan, Morley, Clarke, Carvell, V Anderson, Westwood, Harrison. Subs: Wood, Rauhihi, Grix, Higham.

Ref: P Bentham Atten: 8,005