GUARDIAN VERDICT: Warrington Wolves 14 Leeds Rhinos 20 (From Warrington Guardian)

GUARDIAN VERDICT: Warrington Wolves 14 Leeds Rhinos 20

8:00am Thursday 12th March 2009

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SOMETHING strange happened at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Sunday.

As a whirlwind week at Wolves neared its conclusion, the combined impact of Tony Smith’s arrival and a much-improved performance took a hold on the Warrington fans.

En masse, supporters faces contorted into an unusual shape, their mouths curling up at the edges, and for a magical 10-minute spell, it seemed a wave of positivity would sweep Wolves to victory .

It was one of those exhilirating moments when the crowd showed exactly what kind of influence they can have on a game.

Skipper Adrian Morley got them going 15 minutes into the second half.

His bone-shuddering hit knocked Leeds winger Ryan Hall off his feet but had the opposite effect on the primrose and blue hordes, bringing them roaring and cheering to their feet.

And minutes later, the volume was cranked up even further when Chris Hicks touched down to bring Wolves level at 14-14.

It was excitement unlike anything seen at Warrington for a while, probably since their last meeting with Leeds, a 22-12 triumph back in August, which, incidentally, was also their last win.

This time, however, Rhinos did not succumb to the hungry Wolves With clinical accuracy, Danny McGuire capitalised on a Chris Riley error 10 minutes from time to seal his side’s fourth win of the current campaign, while condemning Wolves to their fourth defeat.

But, despite the disappointing outcome, there was a inescapable air of optimism at The Halliwell Jones and a genuine feeling that Smith may be the man to unlock the players’ unrealised potential.

Amid all the excitement, it is easy to forget Jimmy Lowes was still in charge of the team for Sunday’s game. He took the training, he picked the players and presumably, he decided the tactics.

Ultimately, this was a response from underperforming athletes who felt they had let their coach down in the opening three games.

They matched the reigning champions almost stride for stride thanks to a renewed hunger and desire, something the fans will always appreciate.

It is also easy to get carried away with the current situation.

The basic errors that have plagued Warrington so far this season were still evident.

On defence, they resulted in two tries for Leeds within the opening five minutes, Carl Ablett and Kevin Sinfield crossing thanks to a mixture of handling errors and missed tackles.

On attack, they ensured Wolves spurned a string of chances despite dominating much of the possession and territory, Ben Harrison, Vinnie Anderson and Lee Briers making costly mistakes at different moments with the try-line in sight.

Still, it was pleasing to see the hosts fight back from a difficult situation through tries from Briers, Mickey Higham and Hicks.

Warrington created plenty of chances, that does not seem to be a problem, while their defence high up the pitch was also impressive, keeping Leeds pinned in their own 20 through numerous sets.

Then there was the performance of Adrian Morley. Wolves’ skipper was a gargantuan presence, providing evidence, if any were needed, of his determination to make this season a success.

A fourth straight defeat may mean this is the worst start to a season since but there is a sense that if Smith can perform a bit of fine-tuning, fortunes could quickly be turned around.

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Match facts

Warrington Wolves 14 Leeds Rhinos 20

Wolves: Chris Riley; Chris Hicks (1t, 1g), Martin Gleeson, Matt King, Paul Johnson; Lee Briers (1t), Michael Monaghan; Adrian Morley, Jon Clarke, Paul Rauhihi, Ben Harrison, Louis Anderson, Vinnie Anderson. Subs: Paul Wood, Lee Mitchell, Mickey Higham (1t), Steve Pickersgill.

Rhinos: Lee Smith; Scott Donald, Ashley Gibson, Kallum Watkins, Ryan Hall; Danny McGuire (1t), Rob Burrow; Ryan Bailey, Paul McShane, Luke Burgess, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Carl Ablett (1t), Kevin Sinfield (1t, 4g).

Referee: Steve Ganson

Scoring: King fails to deal with a Sinfield grubber kick and fumbles the ball over his own try-line to give Ablett a simple touch down, 2mins, Sinfield converts, 0-6; McShane’s 40-20 kick establishes good field position for Leeds and Sinfield crashes over after collecting a short pass from Burrow, 5mins, Sinfield converts, 0-12; Clarke’s quick delivery from play-the-ball gives Briers space and he dummies before darting through the goal-line defence, 13mins, 4-12; Sinfield kicks goal after Wolves are penalised for interference, 34mins, 4-14; Rhinos are penalised for offside and Higham picks up at dummy half to dive over from close range on the third tackle, 39mins, Hicks converts, 10-14; Briers’ looping pass releases Gleeson and the centre sends in Hicks on the right touchline to finish a sweeping move, 57mins, 14-14; Riley attempts to run back a deep kick from Smith but loses the ball in a tackle from Jones-Buchanan and McGuire picks up to race in unopposed, 70mins, Sinfield converts, 14-20.

Pens: Wolves 7 Rhinos 4

Attendance: 9, 863

Warrington Guardian top men: Morley 3pts, Monaghan 2pts, Rauhihi 1pt.

Interesting note: Wolves have lost their first four games of the season for the first time since the 1975/76 campaign, while their current run of four straight home defeats is their worst since moving to The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

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