Warrington battled to a narrow 22-20 Betfred Super League victory over Hull KR at Craven Park to move up to second in the early season table.
The visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to four as poor handling in the closing stages saw the home side come up short.
Warrington led through tries by George Williams and Matty Ashton before Rovers hit back through Tyrone May and Ryan Hall as momentum swung back and forth in the first half.
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Further scores for the visitors through Toby King and Connor Wrench in the final two minutes of the half saw Warrington six points ahead.
Midway through the second half Oliver Gildart’s try reduced the deficit to two points, with Tom Opacic putting the home side back in front, only for Matt Dufty to claim Warrington’s fifth try which sealed a hard-fought win for Sam Burgess’ side.
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Warrington start well, stumble, then finish with a flourish
Warrington forced Rovers into an early error and from the possession forced a goal-line drop-out with six minutes gone.
From the kick Warrington put more pressure on the Rovers try line and Williams went over for the opening try following a pass by Dufty, with Josh Thewlis’ making it 6-0.
The home side failed to clear a kick behind and the ball bobbled around until Ashton touched down for a 10-0 lead with 14 minutes gone.
Rovers needed a spark and it came when May chased a high kick from Mikey Lewis and claimed the ball to touch down. Jez Litten’s kick reduced the arrears to four points.
Hall crashed over in the left corner for Rovers’ second try with 15 minutes of the half remaining following a fine move from the right wing and Litten’s kick from out wide had the home side ahead for the first time.
But Warrington hit back through King with two minutes to go to the break but a second missed kick for Thewlis meant the lead was just two points.
With just seconds of the half remaining Wrench kicked on to touch down following a Dufty kick and run for the visitors’ fourth try, stretching the lead to 18-12 at the interval.
Rovers should have done better when a Lewis dummy and burst set up a great scoring chance, but his pass was just behind Litten with the line open.
Rovers were enjoying plenty of ball and Lewis and Hall combined to send Gildart over in the left corner and the home side trailed by two with three quarters of the game gone.
May’s looped pass to the right wing was perfect for Opacic to dive over as the lead changed once more.
But Dufty went over in the left corner for Warrington’s fifth try with 10 minutes to go and that was enough to secure the points for the visitors.
What’s next?
Hull Kingston Rovers are next in action on Saturday, March 16 with a trip to Huddersfield Giants on the horizon (3pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports Action) and the following day Warrington Wolves will face London Broncos in the capital (3pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports Arena).
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