HALF TIME: Warrington Wolves 22 London Broncos 10 (From This Is Cheshire)

HALF TIME: Warrington Wolves 22 London Broncos 10

4:09pm Sunday 12th February 2012 in Sport By Christopher Terris Taylor

WARRINGTON Wolves overcame a shaky start to open a healthy 22-10 lead over London Broncos at the break. Tries from Chris Bridge, two, Joel Monaghan and an impressive solo effort from Ryan Atkins proved to be the difference between the two sides as Wolves looked to repeat last year's demolition of their London-based visitors.

Broncos had refused to stick to the script set by previous meetings between the two sides. After several sets testing the London line and a Ben Westwood try chalked off following a forward pass by Lee Briers, Broncos broke forward and scored with their first real attempt on the Warrington line. Scrambling defence by the hosts looked to have kept the visitors at bay until Michael Witt took on Simon Grix from close range and found a gap to saunter over. He converted his own try to seal a perfect start for the new-look London outfit.

Conceding an early try looked to have given Wolves the wake-up call they needed. With a renewed sense of urgency they pushed forward, winning a penalty that would prove to be costly for Rob Powell’s side. Briers, acting quickly while Broncos frantically tried to set themselves, spotted his side’s numerical advantage on the right and sent Chris Bridge crashing over to narrow the gap. Ben Westwood missed the chance to tag on the extras, but Wolves were back in the contest at 4-6 with 14 minutes gone.

Wolves were back to business as usual after the early scare, with their expansive play causing the visitors problems out wide. It was no surprise, then, to see Warrington profit from this approach on their next trip into the Broncos 20-metre line. Quick play-the-balls gave them good position in front of the posts and two long balls, first from Briers and secondly from Chris Bridge, sent Joel Monaghan over unopposed on the right. Ben Westwood slotted over the extras and with 17 minutes remaining in the first half, Wolves were ahead for the first time in the game.

Try as they might, Broncos were struggling to slow the rampant Wolves down when out of possession. Smith’ side, no strangers to wrestling tactics often used in an attempt to slow them down, were simply too much for the visitor’s tiring defence to handle. Once again, Wolves third try came from quick play-the-balls catching the guests out of position and Chris Bridge was again the beneficiary as Warrington scored their best try of the afternoon so far. Sweeping passes from the left saw Grix pass to Briers, who lofted a high kick out to Monaghan on the wing. The Australian winger had the simple task of knocking the ball back to Bridge, who flopped over without resistance. Westwood added the extras .

No sooner had they scored one superb team effort, Wolves treated the assembled crowd to a wonderful individual try. Acting quickly after holding out one of London’s few attacks on their line, Wolves broke free through Ryan Atkins and the powerful centre left Broncos defenders in his wake as he charged forward. Leaving the defenders for dead, Atkins exchanged passes with Briers and finally dropped over to the left of the posts, giving Westwood another chance to add the conversion.

But that was not the last action of half, as Broncos, still reeling from the last two tries, romped up the field and touched down moments before the hooter sounded for half time. Kieran Dixon was given too much space on the right wing and he snuck in at the corner despite the attention of Rhys Evans. Michael Witt missed the touchline conversion attempt, but Broncos had reduced the deficit to 22-10 at the break.

Wolves: Stefan Ratchford; Joel Monaghan, Chris Bridge, Ryan Atkins, Rhys Evans; Lee Briers, Richie Myler; Garreth Carvell, Michael Monaghan, Adrian Morley, Trent Waterhouse, Ben Westwood, Simon Grix. Subs: Ben Harrison, Mike Cooper, Paul Wood, Chris Riley.

Broncos: Luke Dorn; Michael Robertson, David Howell, Jamie O’Callaghan, Kieran Dixon; Michael Witt, Craig Gower; Antonio Kaufusi, Chad Randall, Mark Bryant, Chris Bailey, Shane Rodney, Tony Clubb. Subs: Chris Melling, Olsi Krasniqi, Julien Rinaldi, Matt Cook.