Warrington too strong for Salford  

Warrington laid down a marker for their top four credentials by beating Salford.

The Wolves are now third and are just two points behind second-placed Wigan Warriors.

Warrington Wolves coach Steve Price made five changes to his side that beat Wakefield Trinity two weeks ago. Mitch Brown, Toby King, Ben Pomeroy, George King and Joe Philbin came in for Stefan Ratchford, Ryan Atkins, Harvey Livett, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Chris Hill.

Ian Watson made three changes to his Salford Red Devils outfit that beat Widnes Vikings last time out. Craig Kopczak, Tyrone McCarthy and Ed Chamberlain were replaced by Lee Mossop, Mark Flanagan and Daniel Murray.

Warrington started on the front foot. Tyrone Roberts dropped his shoulder and assisted the supporting Sitaleki Akauola who raced over. Bryson Goodwin converted to give his side an early 6-0 lead.

Salford hit back in the 12^thminute. The ball went along the line to Jack Littlejohn who barged over out wide. Rob Lui added the extras to draw the score level at 6-6.

The Wolves went back in front not long after. They had numbers on the left side and Tom Lineham finished brilliantly in the corner.

Warrington were in again midway through the first half as Toby King latched onto a grubber from Roberts to score, Warrington 14-6 Salford.

Salford forward Ryan Lannon was sin-binned for holding Josh Charnley down in the tackle while trying to bide time for his team in the 27^thminute.

Salford pulled one back late on in the half as George Griffin got a nice offload away to Littlejohn who got his second. Lui failed to convert and Warrington were 14-10 to the good at half-time.

The Red Devils came out firing in the second half and scored after a quick passing move resulted in Jake Bibby going over. Lui’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the score was tied at 14-all.

It didn’t take Warrington long to go back in front though. Josh Charnley put the after burners on to score in the corner. Goodwin’s boot took the score to 20-14 after 52 minutes.

Warrington all but sealed the win in the latter stages of the game as Daryl Clark threw a cheeky dummy to score from close range. Goodwin converted and they were 26-14 ahead.

Mike Cooper put the icing on the cake for Warrington as he bulldozed over the line in the last play of the game. The Wolves ran-out 30-14 winners at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Warrington: Brown; Lineham, Goodwin, T King, Charnley; Brown, Roberts; Akauola, Clark, Cooper, Pomeroy, Hughes, Westwood. Subs: Philbin, G King, Patton, Crosby.

Salford: Littlejohn; Olpherts, Welham, S’au, Bibby; Lui, Shorrocks; Tasi, Wood, Mossop, Griffin, Lannon, Burke. Subs: Flanagan, Tomkins, Nakubuwai, Murray.

Starman: Daryl Clark was very good out of dummy half for Warrington. He provided a lot of quick plays and tired the Salford defence with his sharp bursts.

Attendance: 9,171