Briers' kicking spares Wolves' blushes: Warrington Wolves 26 Leigh Centurians 22 (From Warrington Guardian)

Briers' kicking spares Wolves' blushes: Warrington Wolves 26 Leigh Centurians 22

WARRINGTON Wolves ground out the desired result but they did little to suppress the club's growing band of doom mongers.

Wolves fans slated the team after the opening day defeat to London Broncos and the negativity is certain to snowball this week.

For Warrington were awful at times on Sunday.

They looked flat, showed precious little composure in the opposition's half and the number of unforced handling errors that they made was criminal.

Had Wolves been playing a better side than relegation favourites Leigh then defeat would have been a certainty.

But, to their credit, Warrington showed plenty of heart after the half-time break.

They knew that they were not playing well but they rolled up their sleeves and were rewarded with two precious points.

A good go-forward at the ruck and an excellent kick and chase game was the key to Wolves' victory.

They also showed textbook technique and good organisation in defence.

Wolves coach Paul Cullen pointed out in the post-match Press conference that Leigh did not break through Warrington's defensive line all game.

But then again, they did not need to with the likes of Henry Fa'afili and Brent Grose handing tries out on a plate.

Fa'afili is a New Zealand international but he has shown anything but international form since joining Wolves at the back end of last season.

He threw out a suicidal pass to give Leigh a way back into the game on 22 minutes.

Jason Kent was the beneficiary. He ran the full length of the pitch and then Grose, who had a shocker at full back, gave Rob Smyth the easiest try of his career with a misplaced clearance kick from behind his own try line.

At the other end of the pitch, Wolves skipper Lee Briers silenced his critics with an inspired display.

He scored a try and set up others for the impressive attacking trio of Jon Clarke, Martin Gleeson and Nathan Wood.

Briers' field kicking was exemplary. He put Leigh on the back foot at every opportunity and the other positives to come out of the game were the form of Toa Kohe-Love, Logan Swann and Ben Westwood.

Kohe-Love oozed class when given room to manoeuvre, Swann did not miss a tackle all game and Westwood was the best Warrington forward on the pitch in what was only his second outing in the pack.

Match facts

Engage Super League X, round two, February 20, 2005

Warrington Wolves 26

Leigh Centurions 22

Wolves: Brent Grose; Henry Fa'afili, Martin Gleeson, Toa Kohe-Love, Dean Gaskell; Lee Briers, Nathan Wood; Chris Leikvoll, Mark Gleeson, Mark Hilton, Logan Swann, Mike Wainwright, Jon Clarke. Subs used: Ben Westwood, Danny Lima, Paul Noone, Warren Stevens.

Centurions: Ben Cooper; John Wilshere, Robert Jackson, Phil Jones, Rob Smyth; Jason Kent, John Duffy; Craig Stapleton, Jason Ferris, Matt Sturm, James King, Steve McCurrie, Mark Leafa. Subs used: Paul Rowley, Kevin Henderson, Richard Moore, Ian Knott.

Referee: Steve Ganson

Scoring: Briers and Fa'afili combine to send Clarke racing over, 6mins, Briers converts, 6-0. A suicidal pass by Fa'afili gives Kent a clear run to the line, 22mins, Jones goal, 6-6. Grose boots the ball straight into the path of Smyth behind the try line, 26mins, Jones adds the extras, 6-12. Jones knocks over a penalty goal after Lima is punished for interfering at a play-the-ball, 33mins, 6-14. Briers gives Martin Gleeson the chance to show his world class finishing skills from close range, 36mins, 10-14. Half-time. Wood touches down a perfectly weighted grubber kick from Briers, 42mins, Briers goals, 16-14. Noone penalised for holding down and Jones knocks over the two-pointer, 52mins, 16-16. Clarke scurries over from acting half back, 69mins, 20-16. Mark Gleeson bursts through a gap and sends Briers haring over, 73mins, Briers converts, 26-16. Ferris kicks through and touches down, 78mins, Jones tags on the extras, 26-22.

Penalties: Wolves 8 Centurions 6

Scrums: Wolves 5 Centurions 9

Attendance: 11,412

Warrington Guardian top men: Lee Briers 3pts, Ben Westwood 2pts, Jon Clarke 1pt. Points will be accumulated throughout the season.

Interesting note: Leigh had a 90 per cent completion rate.

Other round two results: Leeds 30 St Helens 18, Salford 20 London 16, Wakefield 18 Wigan 16, Huddersfield 28 Hull 36, Widnes 31 Bradford 22.

Round three fixtures: Tomorrow, Friday: St Helens v Huddersfield, Wigan v Bradford (Sky 8pm). Saturday: Leigh v Salford (Sky 6.05pm). Sunday: Hull v Warrington (3.15pm), Leeds v Widnes, London v Wakefield.