Price proud of gutsy Warrington win

Warrington coach Steve Price said he was proud of his sides ‘gutsy’ performance in their win over Widnes.

The Wolves led 10-4 at the break thanks to tries from Ryan Atkins and Stefan Ratchford while Krisnan Inu scored for Widnes.

A second from Atkins as well as two goals from Bryson Goodwin put Warrington in a 18-4 advantage in the second half before Inu made it a pulsating finish with a second effort. Warrington held on for a 18-10 result though, claiming their first victory of the 2018 Betfred Super League season.

Speaking after the game, Price said: “It was a good, gutsy win.

“Widnes scored two tries from kicks and they had a lot of possession near our line and I thought our goal-line defence was fantastic – I liked how we just stayed in the fight and showed a lot of resolve.

“When Mike Cooper got 10 minutes with nine to go, we were playing with 12 men and I’m just proud of the guys.

“We spoke all week about our attitude and Widnes have been going really well, they were unlucky against Cas last week so it was a good result for us, we hung in tough and now we can start our season.”

England international Ratchford was the star of the show, with the full-back being solid in attack and defence.

And Price picked him out for praise among a couple of others.

He added: “I thought Stefan Ratchford was outstanding.

“How he has rebounded over the first two games is credit to him – that’s why he is an international player.

“I thought Ryan Atkins really stood up and Daryl Clark as well.

“It is really important with our start of the season but it was a great response by the boys and we can kick on from here now.”

Wolves back-rower Joe Philbin left the field and didn’t return in the first half due to concussion following a collision with Hep Cahill but Price confirmed that Philbin should be fit to face Wigan Warriors next week.