Wolves claim first win

Warrington Wolves claimed their first Super League win of the season with a 24-12 defeat of Hull Kingston Rovers.

Paul Johnson scored two tries as the Wolves looked a different side from the one that has struggled through the opening weeks of the 2009 campaign.

Ben Harrison gave Tony Smith's team the perfect start with an early try while Michael Monaghan and Matt King also crossed the try-line in a vastly-improved display.

Rovers scored consolation tries through Peter Fox and Makali Aizue but will be disappointed they passed-up the opportunity to move within a point of league leaders Leeds.

Changes

New coach Smith decided to shake things up for his third game in charge by leaving talisman Lee Briers on the bench and switching Martin Gleeson to stand-off.

It paid off immediately as Harrison crashed over for the opening try just six minutes in following a penalty conceded by Chaz I'Anson.

Rovers initially responded well to force two drop-outs and a Michael Dobson kick almost created a try for Ben Galea, but the second row could not gather the ball cleanly.

Warrington defended sternly to weather the storm and then extend their advantage on the half-hour mark.

King went close but was stopped just short of the line, the ball was quickly recycled and Monaghan broke through a number of challenges to score the Wolves' second try.

Shortly after, Rovers full-back Ben Cockayne produced a brilliant tackle to deny Paul Wood and stop the scoreline becoming even worse for the visitors.

Comfortable

Warrington were determined to make the most of their pressure and they broke through again in first-half injury time by working the ball wide to Johnson, who finished the move off.

Hicks' second goal gave Warrington a comfortable 16-0 lead at the break but they were on the defensive soon after the restart.

Both sides then went close to scoring in a thrilling passage of play. Firstly, King intercepted inside his own half and carried deep into Rovers territory before Warrington switched play to the opposite wing but Hicks was kept out by a last-ditch tackle from Fox.

Warrington scored again just before the hour as replacement Briers delicately chipped the defence for Johnson to dive and catch one-handed for a spectacular score.

Rovers broke their duck when Fox touched down a Dobson kick but there was to be no fight-back.

King, who apologised after making an offensive gesture at frustrated fans last week, finished on a high by plucking a Briers kick from the air to score.

Aizue took advantage of a rare gap in the Wolves defence to cut the deficit with Dobson kicking a second goal, but it was too little too late.