TONY Smith said last week that, in terms of performance, the difference between the top and bottom of Super League was very small.

Whether that may be true on other nights is up for debate, but he was certainly proved right at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday night.

Wolves were good, Leeds were off-colour and the hosts duly got the victory.

Was it as simple as that? Not quite…

The mood was optimistic after a rousing comeback to draw with Hull FC the previous week, but a Ben Westwood sin-binning and a Tom Briscoe try for Leeds within the first two minutes no doubt had many on the terraces thinking “here we go again.”

Should Westwood have been red-carded for his high tackle that ended Liam Sutcliffe’s game in the first minute? Possibly, but from then on, Warrington barely looked back.

There seemed to be an extra determination about them, typified by both of Ryan Atkins’ first-half tries which both came from cross-field kicks to the corner.

Dec Patton was challenged to make the shirt his own on his return to the side and an increased potency in the Wire attack led expertly by himself and Kurt Gidley has done his chances no harm whatsoever.

Tom Lineham’s try just after the break seemed to be a game-breaker and it came in a spell during which Leeds could barely get away from their own line.

Daryl Clark, Matty Russell and Stefan Ratchford, the holy trinity of dummy-half running, had the Rhinos in retreat, while it was easy to lose count of how many times the visitors were trapped in goal following kicks from Patton and Gidley.

Then, however, came a 10-minute lapse in concentration. The famed Leeds offload game, which Wire had done brilliantly to suppress, was allowed to flex its muscles and it brought tries from Matt Parcell and Joel Moon.

That brought the Rhinos to within four points of a comeback they had scarcely earned. The Wolves side of three weeks ago may have crumbled to another demoralising loss.

However, this was more like the Warrington of last year. They remained calm and did what was necessary to keep Leeds at arm’s length.

Gidley pushed his way over to ease any nerves, while Patton’s last-minute drop goal put an exclamation point on an impressive personal and team display.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. Wolves move off the bottom of the Super League table.

. Rhys Evans makes his 100th Warrington appearance.

. Daryl Clark’s 150th career league outing.

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round Eight, Friday, April 7, 2017.

Warrington Wolves…25 Leeds Rhinos…14

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Matty Russell, Toby King, Ryan Atkins, Tom Lineham; Declan Patton, Kurt Gidley; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Westwood, Joe Westerman. Subs: Joe Philbin, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, George King. Sin bin: Westwood (1min, high tackle).

Rhinos: Ashton Golding; Tom Briscoe, Kallum Watkins, Jimmy Keinhorst, Ryan Hall; Danny McGuire, Joel Moon; Mitch Garbutt, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Liam Sutcliffe, Carl Ablett, Jamie Jones-Buchanan. Subs: Matt Parcell, Brett Delaney, Anthony Mullally, Josh Walters.

Scoring: Briscoe try, 2mins, 0-4; Atkins try, 15mins, Patton goal, 6-4; Atkins try, 30mins, Patton goal, 12-4; Lineham try, 43mins, Patton goal, 18-4; Parcell try, 54mins, 18-8; Moon try, 62mins, Watkins goal, 18-14; Gidley try, 68mins, Patton goal, 24-14; Patton drop goal, 80mins, 25-14.

Penalties: Wolves 7 Rhinos 8.

Referee: James Child.

Attendance: 10.035.

Man of the match (live blog fan’s poll): Declan Patton.