WOLVES came out on top for the first time under Steve Price but certainly did not have things all their own way against Rochdale Hornets.

There was little between the Super League outfit and their partner Championship One side in the opening 40 minutes, though tries from Luis Johnson and Harvey Livett edged The Wire ahead despite Jack Hughes and Ben Westwood spending time in the sin-bin.

Wolves were more dominant after the break but still found Hornets tough to break down.

Joe Paira handed on to his fellow prop Matty Hadden for a chargeover score on the back of a penalty being conceded and with Danny Yates converting Rochdale led 6-0 after three minutes.

Following a Tom Lineham break and a Rochdale knock-on, a lovely delayed ball from Morgan Smith allowed Luis Johnson to power over with a twist out of the tackle.

His first try for the club and Bryson Goodwin’s first points in primrose and blue with the conversion ensured the scores were soon level again.

A spell under the pump and Hughes going to the sin-bin for a late challenge on kicker Yates led to Ryan Maneely burrowing over from dummy half to restore Hornets’ lead in the 29th minute.

But after winning possession from the restart and earning a penalty too, The Wire responded.

A scrappy last-tackle play ended with Jack Johnson kicking ahead for himself and after full-back Declan Kay fumbled there was Livett to scoop up the loose ball and score, with Goodwin’s goal giving Wolves the lead in a game for the first time under Price’s reign.

Westwood thought he had stretched the advantage late in the first half but when his try was ruled out for double movement his dissent earned him a place in the sin-bin just as Hughes was preparing to return.

Wolves, still down to 12 men, were in charge at the start of the second half.

Lineham dived over in the corner but the score was chalked off for a forward pass from hamstring victim Toby King's replacement centre Mitch Brown.

Not long after Brown was set free by Livett’s long pass and he supplied George King for a clean run home from 20 metres. Goodwin’s goal made it 18-10 after 47 minutes.

Taylor Prell got his opening taste of first-team rugby in place of Lineham and was in position to take a pass from Brown for a converted effort that wrapped up the scoring in the 76th minute.