Warrington 50-19 Huddersfield: Wolves thrash Giants in dominant second half
Last Updated: 28/04/19 6:58pm
Blake Austin claimed two tries as Warrington produced a dominant second-half display to claim a comfortable 50-19 Betfred Super League victory over Huddersfield.
A purple patch of three tries in seven minutes at the end of the first half helped Huddersfield to a surprise 19-12 half-time lead at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
But the Wolves responded in style after the break as they ran in 38 unanswered points to finish easy winners.
Bryson Goodwin claimed two second-half tries for Warrington, with others coming from Ben Currie, Daryl Clark, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Chris Hill while Stefan Ratchford kicked nine goals.
Huddersfield registered tries through Louis Senior, Darnell McIntosh and Alex Mellor while Oliver Russell landed three goals and a drop-goal.
Prop Mike Cooper returned to the Warrington pack, as did second row forward Currie, with Jason Clark and Harvey Livett dropping out of the squad.
Huddersfield made three changes in their back line from the side that defeated London Broncos as McIntosh, Louis Senior and Akuila Uate came in for Scott Grix, Jordan Turner and Jake Wardle.
The Wolves made the perfect start and went ahead after just three minutes when Declan Patton's crossfield kick was plucked out of the air by Currie to touch down and Ratchford converted.
Huddersfield did well to weather Warrington's early storm as Tom Lineham had a try ruled out for a forward pass and the Giants had some promising moments themselves in the opening exchanges but could find no way through an excellent Warrington defensive effort.
The home side added to their tally on 28 minutes when a scruffy pass from Clark bounced kindly into the hands of Hill, who crashed over from close range and Ratchford again converted to make it 12-0.
But the game changed completely in the final 10 minutes of the half as the Giants roared back in some style and claimed three tries in a stunning seven-minute spell
After the Wolves lost possession deep inside their own half, Jermaine McGillvary was quickest to react and scooped up the loose ball to send Senior over for a try.
McGillvary then turned provider again as his dart down the right touchline sent McIntosh over and it was the Giants full back again who scythed through the Wolves defence to send Mellor clear for a quickfire third try.
Russell was on target with all three conversions and then kicked a drop goal in the dying seconds of the half to give the visitors a 19-12 half time advantage.
The second half was all one-way traffic from the moment Patton's crossfield kick allowed Goodwin to claim an easy catch and touch down two minutes after the restart.
Ratchford again added the conversion and then tagged on a penalty to edge the home side a point in front at 20-19.
Warrington then took a grip of the game with two tries in three minutes as a superb individual effort from Austin was followed by Clark pinching a try from dummy half and Ratchford maintained his 100 per cent record with the boot to make it 32-19.
Austin then claimed his second try of the game on the hour mark and the Wolves finished in style, with further tries from Goodwin and Murdoch-Masila in the final nine minutes to complete the rout.