WARRINGTON Wolves came up with perhaps their most important win of the Super League season to date in Round 11 on Thursday night.
A red-hot first half proved sufficient to see off in-form Hull KR at The Halliwell Jones Stadium, with Toby King crossing twice on his 150th appearance for the club.
The centre opened the scoring when he exchanged passes with Matty Ashton, with his wing partner sending him in for a walk-in after Warrington had opened up the Robins' right edge.
His second was almost a carbon copy as Josh Drinkwater's miss-out pass created room for him, and he stepped off his left foot to fool the cover defence and touch down.
The Wire’s other try came courtesy of a penalty try awarded when Ashton was caught high by a scrambling Joe Burgess as he went for the left corner - the high tackle forced the Wire man to just step into touch, with video referee Marcus Griffiths deeming he would have scored were it not for the illegal interference.
Rovers did not go quietly, however, and tries either side of half time made for a nervy second half.
First, a Kelepi Tanginoa offload released Niall Evalds, who in turn found Jack Broadbent to score before Mikey Lewis profited from a kick rebound bouncing back to him to round the cover and touch down, thereby reducing Wire's lead to 10 points with half an hour still remaining.
However, Warrington defended that advantage manfully to ensure that was as close as the Robins got, with Josh Thewlis adding a penalty goal with the final kick of the game.
Warrington 20 Hull KR 8 - post-match reaction
> What our Guardian Fan Panel thought of Wire's rocking of the Robins
> STAT ATTACK: Defensive grit and Thewlis leads big back-five effort
> THE MORNING AFTER: No hint of distraction, a genuine dual-edge threat and Kingy's world
> Ben Currie on Hull KR win and his fruitful move to loose forward
> Sam Burgess breaks down Warrington Wolves' priceless Round 11 victory
> A positive injury update from Sam Burgess after Hull KR win
> WIRE SOCIAL: Supporters react to win over KR
> Re-live the action from The Halliwell Jones Stadium as it happened here
Match facts
Super League, Round 11
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Warrington Wolves...20 Hull KR...8
Wolves: Matt Dufty; Josh Thewlis, Rodrick Tai, Toby King, Matty Ashton; George Williams, Josh Drinkwater; James Harrison, Danny Walker, Paul Vaughan, Matty Nicholson, Lachlan Fitzgibbon, Ben Currie. Subs: Joe Philbin, Zane Musgrove, Jordy Crowther, Sam Powell. 18th man: Max Wood
Robins: Niall Evalds; Joe Burgess, Peta Hiku, Jack Broadbent, Ryan Hall; Tyrone May, Mikey Lewis; Sauaso Sue, Jez Litten, Jai Whitbread, Kelepi Tanginoa, James Batchelor, Dean Hadley. Subs: Matt Parcell, Jack Brown, Matty Storton, George King. 18th man: Leo Tennison
Scoring: King try, 7mins, Thewlis goal, 6-0; Penalty try, 12mins, Thewlis goal, 12-0; King try, 27mins, Thewlis goal, 18-0; Broadbent try, 32mins, 18-4; Lewis try, 51mins, 18-8; Thewlis penalty, 80mins
Penalties: Wolves 6 Robins 6
Referee: James Vella
Attendance: 8,573
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