Warrington Wolves 32-2 Salford City Reds

Warrington (10) 32
Tries: Hicks 2, Atkins, Riley 2, Mathers, Solomona Goals: Bridge 2

Salford (2) 2
Goals: Holdsworth

Ryan Atkins races clear to score Warrington's second try

Warrington ran in seven tries without reply to keep up the pressure on Wigan at the top of Super League XV with a routine home win over Salford.

The visitors drew first blood with an early Daniel Holdsworth penalty before tries from Chris Hicks and Ryan Atkins gave Wolves a 10-2 half-time lead.

Chris Riley, Richie Mathers and David Solomona all went over to put the result beyond doubt.

Hicks and Riley scored again in the last three minutes to add the gloss.

Riley's brace took his tally for the season to 12 and capped a display of two contrasting halves for Wolves.

They were fortunate to be 10-2 ahead at the interval but bossed the second half, helped by a glut of Salford mistakes.

Warrington responded to Holdsworth's early penalty by Matt King putting Hicks in at the corner.

But the Reds missed the chance to level when Holdsworth kicked a straightforward penalty wide and wasted another opportunity to regain the lead when Mathers squeezed Steve Tyrer into touch.

Instead they were hit by a sucker punch when a Tyrer kick rebounded off Atkins, who ran the length of the field to score.

The home side extended their lead when Riley made up for failing to take a Mathers pass by latching on to Simon Grix's kick, before Mathers dummied his way in for his side's fourth try.

Karl Fitzpatrick spilled the ball to give Solomona the simplest of scores, with Hicks and Riley rubbing salt in Salford wounds.

Warrington coach Tony Smith:
"It was a good scoreline and there were a lot of points to be had in the second half.

"We got a handle on how to control the conditions in the second half. It was a fair effort to get that scoreline.

"To keep our opponents try-less in slippery conditions is a great effort and Louis Anderson chased back a couple of times to blot out danger."

Salford coach Shaun McRae:
"It looked forward to me and Warrington had a bit of luck for their second try through Ryan Atkins when Steve Tyrer kicked through.

"We failed to capitalise on Warrington's errors and they did on ours which was the difference.

"Most fans will agree it was not as one-sided an affair as the scoreline suggested and for 60 minutes we were pretty good."

Warrington: Mathers, Hicks, King, Atkins, Riley, Grix, Myler, Morley, Monaghan, Wood, L Anderson, Westwood, Bridge.
Replacements: Carvell, Harrison, Higham, Solomona.

Salford: Fitzpatrick, Broughton, Henry, Talau, Tyrer, M Smith, Holdsworth, Cashmere, Alker, Boyle, Sibbit, Sidlow, Swain.
Replacements: Gibson, Littler, Leuluai, Jewitt.

Att: 11,467.

Ref: T Alibert (Toulouse).