“WE had to win regardless – that was the most important thing.”

In terms of the bare essentials, Daryl Powell got what he wanted out of the clash with Hull FC – two precious league points for his Warrington Wolves side.

While it was far from an entertaining spectacle – the first Super League game not to feature a try since 2007 – Powell’s men simply had to win.

As wave after wave of Hull pressure to pinch what would have been the game-winning score piled onto them late on, one could not help but be fearful of what it would have done for already-low morale had they crossed the line.

As it happened, The Wire stood up to everything the visitors threw at them.

Could things have been different had Black and Whites skipper Luke Gale not succumbed to concussion early? Perhaps, but Powell was a delighted and relieved man nevertheless.

“Both teams looked nervous, the crowd were nervous, I was nervous – but we just needed to come out on the other side of it,” he said.

“We got there and defensively, I thought we worked so hard. We had to because we put ourselves under a fair bit of pressure with errors.

“For the courage and determination, I’m really pleased.

“It was almost like a final with the tension of it and to win the game releases a big pressure valve.

“We should be able to relax a bit more now, chill out a little bit and start to play the way we want to play.”

After a scoreless first half void of any real chances, save for Gale’s knock-on with the line at his mercy that led to his concussion, the record books were being leafed through to see if there had ever been a game of rugby league with zero points in it.

Stefan Ratchford’s penalty stopped that search and after Darnell McIntosh had wasted a chance to pull his side level from the tee, Ratchford was on the mark again.

Warrington Guardian:

Two Stefan Ratchford penalties separated the sides. Picture by SWPix.com

“You could see tonight that the players are working hard for each other. I thought we did last week and we did against St Helens,” Powell said.

“They’re working hard but I think we’re nervous. Players aren’t on form at the moment and that makes it difficult for the team to function.

“That togetherness was really there tonight and that was probably the only thing that got us through – the determination to win a game that was a tough battle for both teams.

“We just had to find a way to win and give ourselves something to grab hold of.

“You can see the pressure everybody’s under – it’s clear and you can feel it in everything. What we want to do is release that.”