Super League: Warrington Wolves 50-24 Bradford Bulls

James Lowes has replaced Francis Cummins as coach of Bradford Bulls

Warrington extended their winning run to eight matches as James Lowes' return to the Halliwell Jones Stadium as Bradford boss ended in heavy defeat.

Ben Harrison, Ryan Atkins and Gareth O'Brien crossed before Brett Kearney replied to make it 16-6 at the break.

Joel Monaghan then grabbed two tries with Ben Westwood, Gene Ormsby and Rhys Evans also going over.

O'Brien scored his second while Adrian Purtell, Tom Olbison and Jay Pitts went over for the Bulls.

Lowes, who had a nine-month spell in charge of Warrington from June 2008, left his role as boss of Championship rugby union side Leeds Carnegie last week to replace Francis Cummins at the relegation-threatened Bulls.

Bradford's third successive Super League loss leaves them nine points behind third-from-bottom Salford with only nine league remaining.

However, they confirmed this week that they are appealing against their six-point deduction in the High Court.

Warrington were 16-0 up after 13 minutes, with Harrison muscling for the first score of the game.

O'Brien then put Atkins over with a kick before then linking up with Stefan Ratchford to touch down himself.

Kearney teamed up with Lee Gaskell to round Matty Russell and reply for Bradford five minutes before the break.

Joel Monaghan then beat Kearney to a Ratchford kick to extend the hosts' lead to 22-6 early in the second half.

Wolves captain Westwood took Mickey Higham's pass to stretch over from short range and Monaghan grabbed his second courtesy of O'Brien's unselfishness from a Ratchford break.

O'Brien was again involved in the build up to Ormsby's 50th minute effort with Purtell eventually responding for Bradford with a solo try on the hour.

Adam Sidlow and Luke Gale wasted chances either side of O'Brien's second try after 65 minutes, as Ratchford and Atkins combined to put Evans through.

Warrington registered their biggest Super League score of the season before Olbison and Pitts grabbed late consolation efforts.

Warrington Wolves boss Tony Smith:

"I'm pleased Jimmy [Lowes] is back in rugby league, he's a rugby league man and I knew he was keen to return. But he has a lot of work to do and they need to clean up some stuff before they can go forward.

"The spirit is certainly there but hopefully Franny [Cummins] will get a job somewhere because he's a fantastic coach.

"We were a lot more fluent than last week and I loved watching us with the ball. The weather was great for throwing it around.

"Stefan Ratchford was outstanding, Mickey Higham was terrific and led the way in the first half and Matty Russell did some terrific stuff."

Bradford Bulls boss James Lowes:

"I learned quite a lot but it's not all doom and gloom.

"We were beaten by a very good side who put sides to the sword early on and they did that to us at the start of each half.

"We are in a fight but are ready for it. I'm looking forward to the challenge and let's see where we are in a month's time.

"We played some good stuff but there are some massive areas we need to work on.

"There is no quick fix, that's not going to happen. But we will fight all the way to our last game irrespective of our position."

Sunday's squads

Warrington Wolves: A Russell, Ormsby, J Monaghan, Atkins, R Evans, Ratchford, O'Brien, Asotasi, Higham, Westwood, Grix, Currie, Harrison.

Replacements: Riley, England, Dwyer, King.

Bradford Bulls: Kearney, Kear, Purtell, Henry, Blythe, Gaskell, Gale, Manuokafoa, Diskin, Sidlow, Pitts, Olbison, Addy.

Replacements: Walker, O'Brien, Donaldson, Baldwinson.

Attendance: 9,003

Referee: Matthew Thomason (RFL)