Riley treble tames Wildcats

Chris Riley grabbed a hat-trick as Warrington bounced back from their derby defeat at St Helens with a comfortable 32-16 win over Wakefield.

Having seen their three-game winning streak snapped by Saints a week ago, the Wolves ran in six tries to triumph in style at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

As well as Riley's treble, Ryan Atkins helped himself to a brace against his former employers. Chris Bridge, who kicked four goals, also crossed to finish with a personal tally of 12 points.

The Wildcats touched down twice before the break but their hopes disappeared when they conceded twice at the start of the second half.

Scooted over

Riley had broken the deadlock early on when he scooted over in the left corner with just three minutes on the clock.

Bridge could not add the touchline conversion but made amends soon after when he punished Wakefield for some hesitancy in defence to gather his own chip ahead and score next to the posts, leaving himself an easy kick.

The Wildcats hit back when Aaron Murphy dived over, Paul Cooke failing to add the conversion to leave the score at 10-4 to the home side.

Warrington responded with a second from Riley, but Michael Korkidas, who has made his loan move to Belle Vue permanent as part of the deal that took Danny Brough to Huddersfield, barged over five minutes from the interval.

The turning point in the contest came in the closing seconds of the half, though, when Atkins grabbed his first by getting on Simon Grix's grubber.

Comfortable cushion

Bridge's third conversion gave Tony Smith's side a comfortable cushion that was further extended when Riley completed his hat-trick four minutes after the re-start.

Atkins, who left Wakefield in a big-money move during the off-season, made sure of the two points when he capitalised on a quick play the ball out wide.

The England international thought he'd grabbed a third when he raced almost the full length of the pitch to squeeze over.

However referee Phil Bentham whistled for play to come all the way back, much to the disappointment of the Wolves fans.

To make matters even worse Wakefield's Sam Obst then waltzed over for a consolation try that half-back partner Cooke converted.