Wolves claim first win
Lee Briers helped Warrington to their first win of the Super League season with a 50-10 victory over the London Broncos.
Last Updated: 12/02/12 6:13pm
Lee Briers helped the Wolves secure their first win of the new Super League season with a 50-10 victory over the London Broncos on Sunday.
The Warrington stand-off returned to action at the Halliwell Jones stadium after he was dropped as a disciplinary measure by coach Tony Smith for last weekend's opening day draw at Hull FC.
And the veteran half-back responded in the best possible fashion , having a hand in all four of his side's first-half tries as the Wolves built a 22-10 lead in the opening period.
After being the chief creator for his team-mates for most of the afternoon it was also fitting that he capped a fine individual performance with two tries late in the second-half.
Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge and Ryan Atkins also claimed two tries each for the rampant Wolves as they started their home campaign with a convincing victory.
Briers' return to the side saw Stefan Ratchford move to full-back for his home debut for the Wolves and Chris Riley dropped to the bench.
Warning
The Wolves were also boosted by the return of Australian winger Monaghan who had recovered from a knee problem to replace Rhys Williams.
But the hosts were missing hooker Mickey Higham, who picked up an elbow injury in the KC stadium opener, and long-term absentee Brett Hodgson.
London welcomed back David Howell at centre after he completed his six-match suspension for biting, taking the place of injured Liam Colbon, who missed out with a groin injury.
Broncos coach Rob Powell gave a debut to former Bradford and Hull KR forward Matt Cook from the bench.
There were some early warning signs for the Broncos, who had been beaten 82-6 on their last visit to the Halliwell Jones last season
A Ratchford break was halted by some scrambling defence and Ben Westwood had a try disallowed for a forward pass in the opening three minutes.
But it was the visitors who took the lead against the run of play, with a fine individual effort by stand-off Michael Witt who stepped inside the Wolves defence to touch down and add the conversion himself.
Spectacular
The Wolves hit back on 13 minutes when a quick tap penalty by Briers saw his pass split the Broncos defence for Bridge to crash over.
It was Briers again moments later, when his combination with Bridge allowed Monaghan to touch down for Warrington's second.
Westwood, off target with his first conversion attempt, made no mistake this time to make it 10-6.
In the 32nd-minute a cross-field kick by Briers was palmed back by Monaghan straight into the hands of Bridge who claimed his second of the game and Westwood converted to make it 16-6.
London almost collected points on a brief raid into Warrington territory but Olsi Krasniqi dropped the ball over the line.
The Broncos were made to pay when Briers took a quick tap restart to release Ryan Atkins who then swapped passes with Briers for a spectacular 80-metre try which Westwood again goaled.
Magnificent
The Broncos reduced the deficit to 12 points with the last play of the half when Michael Robertson managed to squeeze over in the corner to make it 22-10 at half time.
Within eight minutes of the restart Warrington had crossed twice more, as Monaghan and Atkins both claimed their second tries of the game and Westwood stretched the lead to 32-10 with his conversion
Warrington scored the try of the game on the hour mark when Ratchford collected a bomb on his own line and then sent Rhys Evans clear down the left touchline.
The winger managed to slip the ball out to the supporting Ratchford who raced clear for a magnificent length of the field try.
Briers had the final word for the Wolves when he crashed over from close range on 70 minutes
And two minutes from time he claimed his second of the game, adding both conversions to complete a convincing win for Smith's side.
