Leeds beaten by Warrington in front of new coach Arthur

Matt Dufty (R) celebrates scoring one of his two tries for Warrington

Warrington moved up to second in the Super League table with a comfortable 30-18 victory over Leeds on Thursday.

Matt Dufty crossed twice as the Wolves took control by scoring four tries in the first half at the Halliwell Jones Stadium before a Tom Whitehead touchdown halted an attempted Rhinos fightback.

Tries from Lachlan Miller and Ned McCormack did give Leeds hope with new head coach Brad Arthur watching on, but Whitehead’s first try for the Wolves, adding to earlier efforts from Matty Ashton and Rodrick Tai, secured the points for the hosts.

Veteran Stefan Ratchford was again flawless from the tee, landing five conversions from as many attempts.

Warrington built up a commanding 22-4 lead with two-try bursts at the beginning and end of the first half.

New Leeds head coach Brad Arthur watched from the stands

They opened the scoring after just two minutes as George Williams dabbed a kick through the Leeds defence and Ashton pounced.

A second try quickly followed as Danny Walker found a gap on halfway and sent Dufty racing away to touch down.

Leeds responded with a sustained spell of pressure and eventually broke through as Brodie Croft floated a kick to David Fusitu’a in the corner after Mikolaj Oledzki had been stopped just short.

The Rhinos pressed again but a chance was spurned when Jarrod O’Connor dropped the ball striving for the line.

Warrington hit back to end the half on top. Josh Drinkwater and Williams both threatened with jinking runs before Dufty wrong-footed the defence to cut inside and score.

Dufty then turned provider just before the hooter as he kicked through – albeit with the aid of a fortuitous ricochet off Jack Sinfield – for Tai to claim the Wolves’ fourth.

With Ratchford as accurate as usual, the Rhinos were facing a mountain to climb but Miller reduced the arrears soon after the break.

Leeds received a further boost when Williams was sin-binned for a high tackle on Andy Ackers and they took advantage as Rhyse Martin sent McCormack in for his first senior try.

It proved a bittersweet moment as McCormack was forced off injured moments later and Warrington tightened their grip as Whitehead crashed over under the posts.

Leeds were not quite beaten and battled on but, with Martin converting just one try, the gap was too big and Warrington’s defence too strong.

Paul Momirovski did eventually wriggle through a gap to score but it was only a late consolation for the visitors, who remain outside the top six play-off places.

What’s next?

Warrington travel to St Helens on Friday July 19 (8pm, Sky Sports Action) for a contest between two sides on course for the play-offs. Brad Arthur will take charge of Leeds Rhinos for the first time as they host Hull KR at Headingley on Saturday July 20 (3pm, Sky Sports Action).

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