Super League: Warrington Wolves cruise past Salford Red Devils
Warrington Wolves registered a third Super League victory in as many weeks following a 28-12 victory over Salford.
Last Updated: 14/03/14 10:57pm
The Wolves ran in five tries to maintain their upturn in form, while Salford, in contrast, have lost their last three fixtures after starting the season with back-to-back wins.
A three-try blitz set Warrington on their way to victory on Friday night as Chris Bridge, Mickey Higham and Gene Ormsby crossed within the space of nine first half minutes.
Salford regrouped through Dom Manfredi's try before the break, however tries after half-time from Joel Monaghan and Roy Asotasi effectively killed the match as a contest.
Salford made a nightmare start with Tim Smith spilling the ball from the kick off to put Brian Noble's side under early pressure, and then Jake Mullaney threw the ball straight into touch with a wild pass intended for Johnson.
Ben Westwood thought he had scored when he stretched over the line from Gareth O'Brien's pass but his effort was disallowed and then Monaghan had a touchdown ruled out after slick handling.
Chaos
There was to be no reprieve minutes later as Bridge went over in the corner for the first of three tries in nine minutes.
O'Brien's kicking was causing chaos in the Salford defence and confusion allowed Bridge to open the scoring midway through the first half.
Higham darted over to add to the Reds' woes before O'Brien's next kick rebounded kindly off the post with the ball hacked sideways for Ormsby to cross in the corner.
The Reds finally opened their account seven minutes before the break with smart handling by Smith and Mullaney allowing a clever flick by Junior Sa'u to put Manfredi over in the corner.
Ormsby blew another chance for Warrington when he dropped a pass from Ryan Atkins but the Wolves were full value for their 16-4 interval lead.
Salford started brighter in the second half with Harrison Hansen almost going over from Smith's inside pass but Warrington killed the game on 52 minutes when Joel Monaghan touched down for his fourth match in a row against Salford to stretch the advantage to 22-4.
Manfredi took Smith's well-judged pass neatly to grab his second try on the hour to cut the gap to 22-8 but Warrington immediately responded through Asotasi with Stefan Ratchford landing his fourth goal.
Jason Walton hobbled off for Salford 15 minutes from time but the Reds did manage a late effort from their best player, Greg Johnson, after a Mullaney pass.