THERE was nothing chocolatey about Wolves’ first game of Easter – in fact the aftertaste was rather sour.

A clobbering at the hands of Widnes never goes down well, but minority misbehaviour in the stands along with the dismal display on the field ensured the proverbial lead balloon reared its ugly head last Thursday.

It was an 80-minute window into all of Wolves’ recent shortcomings – not as enthusiastic in defence as their opponents, error-riddled in attack, poor tactical kicking, scoring chances not taken and nobody to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Two scoring bursts from Widnes, inspired by skipper and chief playmaker Kevin Brown’s return from a hamstring injury, eventually ensured Warrington left the i-pitch defeated, as they have done on all but one occasion in the past.

Although Tony Smith’s side made a bright start and a Ben Westwood try put them ahead in the fifth minute, the flare (smoke bomb) thrown on the pitch from the Warrington supporters’ stand seemed to disrupt the early rhythm of the men in primrose and blue.

Soon after the five-minute delay, Warrington were cut-up down the middle before expansive distribution and final passes from crafty Brown and tricky Rhys Hanbury handed two tries in seven minutes to Cameron Phelps and Stefan March on either flank.

At that stage, Wolves were trying to turn the tide but their kicking was putting little or no pressure on Vikings’ back three and, in another weekly worry, they were failing to control the speed of their opponents’ play-the-ball despite leniency of the referees in this area in 2015.

Warrington’s cause was not helped at that time by two reshuffles after the departure of winger Matty Russell with ankle ligament damage.

Although the team sheet said otherwise, Kevin Penny started at full back and ended on the wing, Chris Bridge opened the game at centre and moved to the halves, and Stefan Ratchford switched to full back from stand off.

Before settling into the new shape, Ben Currie went from second row to left centre and then right centre.

Despite all of that, credit to Wolves for piecing together a backline move that worked an opening for Penny in the 32nd minute but the torch beam to the line faded after his stumble.

By the time Wolves got their next scoring chance, with two fumbles near the Widnes line in the second half, Brown had steered the home side to a 26-6 lead as he orchestrated tries for Marsh, Lloyd White and himself.

His own score came during a run of six penalties conceded in eight minutes by Wolves, with Westwood also in the sin bin.

Smith’s men did not seem to be able to do anything to help their cause and that, ultimately, brought about their downfall.

INTERESTING NOTES

Wolves only won once at Select Security Stadium since Widnes Vikings' return to Super League in 2012

Widnes' widest margin of victory against Warrington since 31-10 result on June 6, 2004

MATCH FACTS

Widnes Vikings...30 Warrington Wolves...10

Vikings: Rhys Hanbury; Stefan Marsh, Chris Dean, Cameron Phelps, Jack Owens; Kevin Brown, Joe Mellor; Gil Dudson, Lloyd White, Eamon O’Carroll, Danny Tickle, Danny Galea, Macgraff Leuluai. Subs: Alex Gerrard, Aaron Heremaia, Manase Manuokafoa, Matt Whitley.

Wolves: Kevin Penny; Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell; Stefan Ratchford, Gareth O’Brien; Chris Hill, Micky Higham, Ashton Sims, Ben Currie, Ben Westwood, Ben Harrison. Subs: Daryl Clark, Roy Asotasi, Anthony England, James Laithwaite.

Scoring: Westwood try, 5mins, O’Brien goal, 0-6; Phelps try, 10mins, 4-6; Marsh try, 17mins, Owens goal, 10-6; Marsh try, 37mins, 14-6; White try, 45mins, Owens goal, 20-6; Brown try, 51mins, Owens goal, 26-6; Currie try, 65mins, 26-10; Owens try, 77mins, 30-10.

Penalties: Vikings 12 Wolves 8

Sin bin: Westwood 50mins (knees), Tickle 64mins (high tackle)

Referee: Robert Hicks

Attendance: 7,768

Top man: Chris Hill

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