WARRINGTON Wolves fumbled their way to a comprehensive defeat at the hands of ‘derby’ rivals Widnes Vikings at the Stobart Stadium.

Wolves did not have to tackle anything like the snowy conditions faced last week during the match with Huddersfield, but they certainly froze out on the Stobart Stadium pitch as repeated attacking chances went begging.

Tries from Patrick Ah Van and Rhys Hanbury either side of Chris Riley’s effort ensured the hosts had a 12-6 lead at the break, before a two-try blitz from Rhys Evans and Richie Myler immediately after the restart handed Wolves the momentum.

You would normally put money on the visitors to press home their advantage from that position, but a spirited fight from the hosts exposed lapses in Warrington’s defence and allowed them to hit back through Hanbury, Lloyd White and Paddy Flynn, two, to earn their first victory against their ‘derby’ rivals since 2004.

After an early arm wrestle it was the home side that had the first sniff of the try line, when Joe Mellor’s kick over the top on the last sent the Wolves defence into panic. The ball ricocheted around next to the posts and Gareth O’Brien cleared up the danger by touching down in goal. Widnes tested Wolves’ line defence following the resulting goal line drop, but Rhys Hanbury’s hasty grubber into the waiting arms of Ben Westwood finally dispelled the danger.

Wolves then looked to return the favour at the end other end after a late shot on Richie Myler, but after a full set inside Widnes’ 10 metre line a high kick from O’Brien to Monaghan was eventually gathered by Gareth Hock.

A superb try-saving tackle from Stefan Ratchford at full back then kept Wolves’ line intact, but Vikings had the wind in their sails and they had soon crossed for the game’s first try. The ball was whipped left down the line and Patrick Ah Van side-stepped Joel Monaghan to beat the Aussie to the corner. Widnes’ winger then converted his own try for a 6-0 lead after 18 minutes.

But that seemed to mark an increase in tempo from the visitors, who responded in kind five minutes later after some sustained pressure on Vikings’ line. First Rhys Evans was denied at full pace in the right corner, before a penalty for high shot handed them another close range opportunity. They took it, with Ratchford chiming into the line to help the ball wide for Chris Riley to charge over in the corner. O’Brien slotted the conversion to drag his side level.

Wolves should have gone on to take the lead before half time, but Smith’s men were not quite at their sharpest with the ball in hand, with Joel Monaghan uncharacteristically dropped Myler’s lofted kick with the line beckoning. Gareth Hock’s fiery clash with a grounded Ben Westwood then caused a brief melee and a penalty near Widnes’ line, but even with a full set at their disposal Wolves could not make the breakthrough. Ratchford’s knock on on the first tackle after an intricate routine typified Wolves’ efforts in the final third.

The hosts then twisted the knife in the final five minutes of the first half, moving up the field and charging over the line from close range. A brief foray next to Wolves’ line saw Jon Clarke scoop up the ball at dummy half and his short ball sent Rhys Hanbury crashing over to hand his side a 12-6 lead once Ah Van had added the extras.

Wolves emerged after the break looking to make immediate amends for their lacklustre start and were soon level. Back-to-back sets on Widnes’ line, helped by Mellor’s fumble of a high kick, saw Myler hoist the ball high and right for Monaghan to palm back for Rhys Evans. The ball bounced kindly and Evans pounced on some hesitant Widnes defence to round the cover and score in the corner. O’Brien goaled.

Widnes had not even touched the ball in the second half and all of a sudden Wolves had taken a six-point lead after a second try in as many minutes. Ratchford wriggled through a weak tackle down the middle and Myler was typically sharp in support to dive over between the sticks and give O’Brien the simple task of making it 18-12.

But the second half’s early drama was not finished there, as Vikings replied with a nice try less than five minutes later to once again leave the scores finely balanced. Showing the type of handling that Wolves themselves would be proud of, the ball was worked right through almost the entire team before Steve Pickersgill’s offload allowed Willie Isa to send Paddy Flynn over in the corner. Ah Van added the extras to make the score 18-18 after a breathless opening 10 minutes of the second period.

A high shot from Garreth Carvell then gave Ah Van the chance to give his side a slender lead from 35 metres out, but the real blow to the visitors’ chances came with Widnes’ fourth try of the game with 15 minutes remaining. Rhys Hanbury showed electric pace to charge through a gap in Wolves’ line to beat the covering Ratchford and Monaghan to the line. Ah Van’s conversion gave the hosts a vital eight-point lead.

That was a particularly painful try to concede for Wolves, who had twice been given the chance to attack the home side’s line only to throw the chances away with poor handling. Wolves’ attacking jitters continued in the final 15 minutes, as time and time again promising positions evaporated as the ball hit the floor.

And as if to rub salt into the wounds, Widnes extended their lead before the game was up. Already adept at exposing weaknesses in Warrington’s line, Chris Dean stepped through another gap and his short ball sent Lloyd White over to rapturous applause from the home side. Ah Van’s kick made it 32-18.

Wolves still had time to rescue what little pride they could from a thoroughly uninspiring performance with a consolation try in the 77th minute. Ratchford’s glorious long ball sent Riley over in the corner and O’Brien missed the conversion to extinguish any remaining hopes of a late comeback from the visitors.

But Vikings, fittingly, had the last laugh as Flynn outstripped the covering defence from Monaghan to cap a wonderful victory for Denis Betts’ men. Man-of-the-match Ah Van added a final conversion to make the final score 38-22.

Widnes: Shaun Briscoe; Paddy Flynn, Chris Dean, Willie Isa, Patrick Ah Van; Rhys Hanbury, Joe Mellor; Ben Cross, Jon Clarke, Eamon O’Carroll, Dave Allen, Gareth Hock, Hep Cahill. Subs: Steve Pickersgill, Alex Gerrard, Lloyd White, Frank Winterstein.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Chris Riley, Ryan Atkins, Rhys Evans, Joel Monaghan; Gareth O’Brien, Richie Myler; Garreth Carvell, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, Simon Grix, Ben Westwood, Mike Cooper. Subs: Trent Waterhouse, Ben Harrison, Paul Wood, Ben Currie.