Super League: St Helens 22-48 Warrington

Warrington finished the opening day of Magic Weekend 2013 with a derby win over St Helens at the Etihad Stadium.

Wire, who were never behind, faced a spirited Saints effort, but ended up such convincing winners thanks only to three tries inside the last 10 minutes.

Winger Chris Riley and forward Trent Waterhouse scored two apiece, while Ryan Atkins, Lee Briers, Simon Grix and Adrian Morley also touched down.

Saints's tries came from Ade Gardner, Jordan Turner and Lance Hohaia.

Stefan Ratchford's boot also proved crucial, ending the match with a 100% record from his eight kicks, while Tommy Makinson kicked three from three for Saints.

Nathan Brown's Saints, who left out captain Paul Wellens, ended a run of five defeats with victory against Leeds on Monday but, despite a second-half fightback, they failed to build on it.

By contrast, Tony Smith's Wolves were beaten by Hull last weekend, but were quick to respond.

The first try came with just a minute on the clock when Simon Grix charged down Jon Wilkin's kick before Atkins eventually played in Riley.

The lead was quickly doubled, when Atkins gathered in a Ratchford chip kick for a second try.

But, when Richie Myler was denied by a saving tackle from Turner close to the line, buoyed by that effort, Saints began to turn the tide.

Ratchford grounded in goal forcing Wire to drop out and, from the resulting set, slick hands from Tony Puletua, Sia Soliola and Turner released Gardner on the right for the 199th score of his career.

Provider turned scorer when Nathan Ashe fed Turner with a neat flick, the former Hull FC centre skipping in for a score that, after Makinson had skewed his kick onto the frame of the posts, brought Saints to within two points at 12-10.

But Warrington were to score three converted tries before the break.

Riley dived in at the corner for his second, before Briers dummied, then brushed off Anthony Laffranchi to score. And Waterhouse capped off the half with a fifth Warrington try, popping up on Riley's inside to squeeze in as the winger was about to be snared close to the line.

Perhaps the cooling temperatures had an effect on the pace as the first 10 minutes of the second half passed largely without incident until Ratchford spilled Mark Percival's kick close to the line to hand Saints a set of six that Turner finished off when he collected Wilkin's kick on the last.

That score revived the contest and, after Warrington twice went close through Garreth Carvell and Ben Westwood, Saints scored a fourth try, finished by Hohaia and created by Gardner's storming right-wing run to pull it back to 30-22.

But, with eight minutes left, Waterhouse stretched out an arm for his second score to settle Wolves nerves, before Grix and Morley went in late on to seal victory.

VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM

Warrington coach Tony Smith:

"That is the standard that Super League games should be played at. They had a real crack at us.

"They tried really hard and, while scorelines are usually true indications, most of our points were at the back end of the halves when they were fatiguing which is what we can do to teams.

"The effort was tremendous. The penalty count was only four to one, which is magnificent."

St Helens coach Nathan Brown:

"We had some good stuff in the second half but the disappointing thing is we didn't make it hard for them.

"Our middle part of the field was not very good. They carved us up on the right but the middle wasn't good and when you are not good against a team like Warrington then you make it hard for yourself.

"Regardless of who is or isn't playing against you you have to make sure you work hard."

SATURDAY'S MAGIC WEEKEND LINE-UPS

St Helens: Hohaia; Gardner, Turner, Percival, Makinson; Ashe, Wilkin; Puletua, Howarth, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Soliola, Manu, Jones.

Replacements: Thompson, Walmsley, Laffranchi, Clough.

Warrington: Ratchford; Riley, Grix, Atkins, J Monaghan; Briers, Myler; Wood, Higham, Hill, Waterhouse, Westwood, Cooper.

Replacements: Morley, M Monaghan, Carvell, Currie.

Attendance: 30,793.

Referee: Phil Bentham (Warrington).