WHILE praising his side’s fight and spirit to avoid defeat, Steve Price says Warrington Wolves would have saved themselves from golden point with better execution.

The Wire seemed set for defeat as time ticked down against Hull FC, but Jake Mamo’s try on the stroke of full time forced extra time.

Both sides fluffed drop-goal attempts during the extra period, with Blake Austin and Gareth Widdop both dragging efforts wide from promising positions.

Warrington Guardian:

Picture by SWPix.com

Marc Sneyd did similar for the hosts and after 10 extra minutes, the sides took a point each.

The visitors created the more promising openings during a tryless first half but could not make any of them stick, and it looked set to cost them before Mamo’s late intervention.

“It had everything. It was a tough game of footy,” Price said.

“We had chances to win the game but at times our execution could have been better.

“Defensively, there was a big improvement from where we have been.

“I was really pleased with how the guys stayed in the fight with the try at the death and we put ourselves in a position to win the game.

“We had opportunities with the field goals but sometimes that’s the way it goes.”

Jake Connor scored the game’s first try just before the hour mark but that was quickly cancelled out by Chris Hill, who touched down following a superb Daryl Clark offload.

Warrington Guardian:

Chris Hill is congratulated after scoring The Wire's first try. Picture by SWPix.com

When Carlos Tuimavave scored with 10 minutes remaining, however, the writing appeared on the wall for Price’s men.

As the hooter sounded, though, Mamo cut in from the right edge to beat the defence and he just about kept his feet to score, with Widdop’s conversion taking the game to golden point – the first time a Super League game involving Warrington has needed extra time.

They set up promising positions for their half-backs to be the heroes, but neither Austin or Widdop could find the winning moment.

“We changed the momentum against us with two yardage penalties in the second half,” Price said.

“It stopped our flow and it took us a while to get it back.

“There was a huge amount of spirit and fight in the boys today. They were up for the fight and have been playing good footy of late.

“We could have executed better but overall, we will take the one point and a lot of growth out of this game.

“We’ve been pretty good over the past 18 months with our field goals but it’s a fine line.

“We’ll keep working hard at it and hopefully next time we’ll get it right.

“Blake and Gareth always work really hard on that part of the game, so that’s not the issue.

“That’s not why we got the draw today – there were some parts of our game we really improved but our offensive execution must improve.”

Widdop took on goal-kicking responsibilities to convert Mamo’s try after Stefan Ratchford limped away.

The full back continued through extra time, however, and Price confirmed he has not sustained any damage.

“Stef just rolled his ankle prior to the last try,” he said.

“It was on the outside rather than the inside, which is better. That’s why Gaz kicked the goal.

“Overall, we’ve got no injuries.”

Josh Thewlis was chosen to replace the suspended Tom Lineham on the wing ahead of Matty Ashton, with Josh Charnley moving over to the left edge to partner Toby King.

Warrington Guardian:

Josh Thewlis got the nod to replace the suspended Tom Lineham. Picture by SWPix.com

Price said he thought Thewlis was “the best fit” for his side this week and that Ashton was “a bit unlucky” to miss out.

“Josh has good some really good attributes and I thought he had a solid game,” he said.

“I thought it was the best fit for today but Matty was a bit unlucky to miss out.

“Josh Thewlis has trained all pre-season over on the right edge, so it wasn’t new to him.

“We felt putting him there and moving Josh Charnley over to the left was the best option.

“We could have gone either way but Josh is comfortable over on the right side.”