Warrington 25 Carlisle 14

WARRINGTON stretched their impressive home record to 25 consecutive wins at their stoutly defended fortress Walton Lea Road, this time with a scrappy victory over Carlisle.

Unlike the previous week, where two good footballing sides had matched each other to produce a classic game, Warrington were very much on the defensive as the visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession as well as territorial advantage.

“It’s so easy to lose games like these,” said coach Andy Roberts.

“Carlisle hustled us and pressurized for most of the match, but unfortunately they could not quite find that finishing edge.”

Carlisle’s ferocious defence kept the hosts from building much pressure, with much of the game being played in the middle of the park until Kevin Jones crossed off the back of some fine mauling.

Pat Roberts added a penalty shortly before the visitors pegged Warrington back with a converted try of their own, but Tom Wood’s quick thinking soon restored the host’s lead as Josh Riley made it 13-7.

Carlisle’s impressive defending continued after the break and when they took the lead with another converted try, Warrington’s record looked vulnerable.

But that was only until Kieran Hughes kicked into gear with a brace, the second converted by Roberts, to wrap up the scoring.