MOMENTS of inspiration turn matches and we had some of those in Wolves’ triumph over Salford Red Devils.

Brad Dwyer, so often a rescue act with trademark tries from dummy half, stopped a certain score from former Wolves reserves hooker Sean Kenny when Salford threatened a comeback at 22-8 midway through the second half.

But the Wolves substitute found a spurt of energy to trail the initial break from Junior Sa’u and then clamped his arms around those of Kenny as he dived over the line, with the ball becoming dislodged in the process of stretching out to touch down.

A couple of punishing 40-20s later, and a forced drop out also created by the boot of Chris Sandow, led to The Wire running away with things and notching their biggest points haul since the 52-18 thumping of Leeds Rhinos in May.

Wolves’ performance was far from perfect.

Ball spillage, concession of penalties and some lapses in defence made sure of that, but there were signs that maybe Wolves have put some of their more lacklustre performances behind them.

The return of Ashton Sims and Ryan Atkins from suspensions certainly provided fresh impetus, despite still missing the string-pulling of veteran Australian star Kurt Gidley.

While Sims put some fire in The Wire belly down the middle, Atkins’ two tries at the back end of the first half were all about the power and explosion Wolves can miss when he is absent ¬– and they gave Tony Smith’s men an 18-4 command at the break that probably did a lively Salford side disservice at that stage.

But the star of the show was undoubtedly Joe Westerman.

The former Hull and Castleford pack man was at the heart of Wolves’ best work with and without the ball.

His determination, footwork and vision allowed him to escape Salford’s grasp for Wolves’ opening try, while he tidied up a scruffy attacking set and crossed for another opportunist effort to take the game out of Salford’s reach at 28-8.

He was unlucky not to score his first Wire hat-trick when the ball was ripped from him by Michael Dobson as he crossed but Dec Patton reacted quickly to make the most of Westerman’s weaving run with his first try of the year.

More than that, Westerman worked overtime at driving the ball in and with his defensive duties.

It was from one of his huge hits that Salford lost possession that led to Atkins’ second try giving Wolves a stranglehold that they never lost.

INTERESTING NOTES:

Victory confirms Wolves will finish the first phase of the season in the top four

Warrington have won their last nine meetings with Salford. The Red Devils' last win against The Wire was 48-24 at home in 2012.

Ryan Atkins joins Ben Currie at the top of Wolves’ 2016 try-scoring charts

Dec Patton scores his first points of the season with a try and five conversions on his first home appearance of 2016

MATCH FACTS: Super League Round 21, Thursday, July 7, 2016

Warrington Wolves…40 Salford Red Devils…14

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Tom Lineham, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Matty Russell; Dec Patton, Chris Sandow; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Joe Westerman. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Ben Westwood, George King, Toby King.

Red Devils: Gareth O'Brien; Mason Caton-Brown, Josh Griffin, Junior Sa’u, Greg Johnson; Robert Lui, Michael Dobson; Craig Kopczak, Logan Tomkins, George Griffin, Josh Jones, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Mark Flanagan. Subs: Weller Hauraki, Adam Walne, Jordan Walne, Sean Kenny.

Scoring: Sa’u try, 9mins, 0-4; Westerman try, 22mins, Ratchford goal, 6-4; Atkins try, 36mins, Patton goal, 12-4; Atkins try, 39mins, Patton goal, 18-4; Lineham try, 46mins, 22-4; Josh Griffin try, 51mins, 22-8; Westerman try, 61mins, Patton goal, 28-8; Patton try, 64mins, Patton goal, 34-8; Russell try, 69mins, Paton goal, 40-8; Lui try, 71mins, O’Brien goal, 40-14.

Penalties: Wolves 7 Red Devils 5

Referee: Joe Cobb

Attendance: 9,024

Top man: Joe Westerman