WARRINGTON Wolves stuttered to victory in a rollercoaster performance at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium.

Blowing hot and cold throughout a game littered with defensive errors, Wolves had enough firepower to blitz Wakefield in two 10 minutes spells in each half to walk away with a victory that should have been by a much greater margin.

Braces from Joel Monaghan, his sixth of the season, Stefan Ratchford and Ryan Atkins, with one from Richie Myler, were enough to secure two Super League points.

But Wolves were once again far from their defensive best as Brett Hodgson’s drop goal was needed to give his side breathing room after they had blown a 40-22 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

After last week’s dire start to the game, Wolves seemed determined not to suffer a similar fate.

However, there was little danger of that once Ryan Atkins opened Wolves’ account after only 70 seconds.

On their first possession Wolves charged up the field and whipped the ball left for Atkins, who put a grubber kick up the line and beat the covering defence to touch down.

Brett Hodgson’s touchline conversions made it 6-0.

It was an early indication that Wakefield were in for a long day, and they had barely even managed to escape from their own half before the visitors doubled their advantage.

When Paul Aiton fumbled a charged down kick, it handed Wolves a chance to strike.

Richie Myler attacked a gap and broke through and half back partner Stefan Ratchford was on his shoulder in support to cross between the sticks. Hodgson converted.

But despite Tony Smith’s claims that his side were to toughen up in defence following their bitterly disappointing defeat to Leeds, Wolves soon lapsed in front of their own line.

Some weak tackling immediately after Micky Higham’s knock on inside his own 20-metre line allowed Paul Sykes to crash over despite efforts from Higham and Simon Grix.

Sykes converted his own try to half the deficit. While their defence still left something to be desired, there was certainly nothing wrong with Wolves’ attacking prowess.

Within five minutes they had scored two quick-fire tries to take control, the first coming off the back of Trent Waterhouse’s offload after Ben Thaler had gifted Wolves a fresh set inside 10 metres of Wakefield’s line.

With the offload handing Wolves an extra man on the left, Myler’s flick inside pass sent Atkins cruising over for his second.

They crossed on the other side within minutes of receiving kick off, Simon Grix’s ball sending the prolific Joel Monaghan over for his 12th try of the season.

Hodgson added both conversions to open a 6-24 lead.

Perhaps their lead had come all too easy, but Wolves seemed to switch off after 30 minutes. They were punished in due course by Peter Fox, who crossed twice inside five minutes to drag his side within six points.

First he squeezed in on the right, beating Riley and Atkins to the corner.

Then he stepped through Wolves’ line on halfway, racing away from the chasing Atkins to tumble over next to the posts.

Sykes added both goals and despite looking comfortable for the majority of the half, Wolves trooped in with only a 24-18 lead at the break.

As a result, Wakefield started the second half full of belief and spent much of the opening 10 minutes camped inside Wolves’ 30 metre line.

Brett Hodgson fielded Aiton’s grubber only to be bundled back over for a goal line drop out, meaning Waterhouse was needed to deny Danny Kirmond as the second rower pushed for the line.

Unfortunately for Wolves their defence was as porous at it had been all game, meaning it was no surprise when Reece Lyne skipped through two would-be tacklers to find the line on the left.

Sykes’ goal levelled the scores for the first time since Atkins’ try in the second minute.

Wolves had barely left their own half in the opening 20 minutes of the second period, but Wakefield’s equaliser seemed to stir them into action.

Within a 10 minute spell between 59 and 69 minutes, the visitors reopened their comfortable lead courtesy of a treble from Joel Monaghan, Ratchford and Myler.

First Hodgson and Grix combined to send Monaghan diving over for a trademark try in the corner, before Ratchford made the most of Kyle Amor’s knock on to step inside some tired Wakefield defence to cross next to the sticks.

Finally, Myler was on hand to support Hodgson’s break and score unopposed between the posts.

Hodgson added two conversions to open a 40-22 lead with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

The 7,985-strong crowd could have been forgiven for thinking the game was done and dusted with the scoring of that try.

But instead they were in for a rollercoaster spell, as the hosts refused to give in and capitalised on further defensive mistakes from Wolves to leave the game hanging in the balance.

Kyle Wood exchanged passes with Aiton to barge over on the left, before Riley’s catastrophic misfield of a kick inside his own 20 metre line allowed Sykes to dive over between the sticks.

Two conversions from Sykes reduced the arrears to 34-40 and with just under five minutes remaining the game was still up in the air.

It was left to Hodgson to seal Wolves’ win, as he slotted over a drop goal with 77 minutes on the clock to put the visitors beyond Wakefield’s reach.

Wakefield: Lee Smith; Peter Fox, Dean Collis, Reece Lyne, Ben Cockayne; Paul Sykes, Tim Smith; Andy Raleigh, Paul Aiton, Oliver Wilkes, Vince Mellars, Danny Kirmond, Danny Washbrook. Subs: Ali Lauititi, Kyle Wood, Kyle Amor, Chris Annakin.

Wolves: Brett Hodgson; Joel Monaghan, Simon Grix, Ryan Atkins, Chris Riley; Stefan Ratchford, Richie Myler, Mike Cooper, Micky Higham, Chris Hill, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Westwood, Ben Currie. Subs: Michael Monaghan, Ben Harrison, Paul Wood, Garreth Carvell.