Wolves pipped by Quins' muddy marvels

Superbly led by their loose forward, and captain Rob Purdham and leaning heavily on the guile of veteran Kiwi Henry Paul, their depleted side rose to the occasion.

Warrington could have few complaints. They made far too many errors.

One look at the Halliwell Jones pitch, pounded by heavy rain for much of the day, suggested we were in for an ugly contest dominated by the two packs.

It turned out to be a correct assumption.

There was surface water on top of a blanket of mud, and the goal posts swayed like tall trees in a gale.

Also, the demands of the Easter programme had eaten into the resources of both clubs. The Wolves' latest casualties were full back Stuart Reardon and standoff Lee Briers.

They were also without suspended Kiwi back rower Louis Anderson. A significant bonus, they hoped, however, was the return after a two-match absence of their Australian play-maker Michael Monaghan.

He was so influential at the start of their impressive run this season but is unlikely to remember this game with much satisfaction.

First, he was flattened by a late hit from rangy Quins centre David Howell midway through the first half — a misdemeanour that earned Howell 10 minutes in the sin bin.

And it was Monaghan's delayed pass, intended for Chris Hicks, that dropped into the arms of Quins substitute prop Garreth Haggerty just before the interval hooter.

Haggerty had the stamina to plough through the mud to score under the posts for Paul to convert to send a depleted Quins side in with an 8-0 lead.

That was hardly what the Warrington crowd expected after such a good start to the season.

Quins coach Brian McDermott could have no complaints at the halfway point with three consecutive defeats behind him and seven senior players unavailable.

McDermott gave a Super League debut to young academy winger Will Sharp who certainly did not shirk the challenge.

Quins were up for the armwrestle and went ahead with a Paul penalty after 20 minutes, Warrington hooker Jon Clarke the culprit.

Just before Howell returned from his spell in the sin bin, Quins produced one of the few instances of open play but when winger Rikki Sheriffe cut inside, Warrington winger Kevin Penny went with him and made an important tackle.

But the ball was nobody's friend last night as the rain hammered down.

It was reasonable to assume that the number of knock-ons, by both sides, were a residual effect from the demands of the fixture list, three high-intensity games in a week, as much as anything to do with the weather.

Surprisingly, perhaps, the tempo increased and there was definitely a greater urgency about Warrington's play in the second half.

But they could not ruffle this Quins outfit and one more stride would have taken centre Tony Clubb over for a crucial second try for the London side as the game slithered into the final quarter.

The packs were running themselves into the ground and Adrian Morley led by example for Warrington while Paul and skipper Purdham did the same for Quins.

Matt King, Warrington's high profile signing from Melbourne Storm, picked up a stray pass from Quins hooker Chad Randall and, on a dry track, he might have got away to run the length of the field. Not on this day.

Warrington were leaving it late but, with 11 minutes left, Monaghan and Hicks worked the ball wide for the versatile Paul Johnson to make it to the line for their first score and Monaghan converted brilliantly from five metres in.

Warrington had the momentum now but Quins' desperate defence kept them out.