Wolves ease past Crusaders
Richie Mathers touched down for two second-half tries as Warrington ran out comfortable 22-6 winners against the Celtic Crusaders.
Last Updated: 04/07/09 9:57pm
Full-back Richie Mathers touched down for two second-half tries as Warrington ran out comfortable 22-6 winners against the Celtic Crusaders.
The victory was a third on the trot for the Wolves who climb above Wigan and into seventh place in Super League as a result.
For their part, the Crusaders remain eight points adrift at the bottom despite a resilient display that restricted their visitors to just six points in the first half.
Those points arrived after nine minutes when two Crusaders defenders allowed a high cross-field kick to bounce and Warrington hooker Jon Clarke was alive to scoop up the loose ball and run over from five yards.
Chris Hicks converted the try, although the Wolves were subsequently kept at bay until half-time thanks to some spirited Crusaders defending.
Indeed, the hosts were still very much in the match until two tries in five minutes midway through the second period all but ended the game as a contest.
Firstly loose forward Ben Harrison powered over following some good work by Mathers, then provider turned scorer as Mathers grabbed his first try of the evening to give his side real breathing space.
Hicks converted both tries, although he was unable to add the extras when Mathers cruised over for his second to make the score 22-0 with some 16 minutes remaining.
The Crusaders lacked the pace and creativity to cause Warrington many problems in defence, but they did produce a consolation try in the last few minutes when wing Luke Dyer claimed a cross-field kick by captain Jace van Dijk for Australian stand-off Mark Lennon to score, but it was far too little, too late for the Welshmen.
