Warrington 25-14 Leeds

Match stats: Warrington 25-14 Leeds 

Warrington tries: Atkins (14,30), Lineham (43), Gidley (68)
Conversions: Patton (14,30,43,68)
Drop-Goals: Patton (79)

Leeds tries: Briscoe (2), Parcell (56), Moon (61)
Conversions: Watkins (61)

Match report: Controversial Wolves win

Ryan Atkins scored twice as Warrington finally won their first Betfred Super League game of the season with a controversial 25-14 victory over Leeds.

The Wolves were fortunate not to have Ben Westwood sent off in the first minute after late tackle on Liam Sutcliffe at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

They made the most of the reprieve as Atkins cancelled out Tom Briscoe's early score with two tries and Tom Lineham added another to put them in control.

Leeds rallied through Matt Parcell and Joel Moon but Warrington, with Westood influential, held out and Kurt Gidley made a long-awaited victory - at the eighth attempt - safe.

There was controversy in the opening seconds as Westwood flattened Sutcliffe with a late shot after a kick by the Leeds utility man.

The Warrington forward could easily have been sent off for a challenge that ended a concussed Sutcliffe's game but referee James Child brandished only a yellow card.

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Leeds were angered but at least took advantage of their numerical superiority to score while Westwood was off as Briscoe wriggled through the defence on the right.

Warrington were ragged and ill-disciplined at this stage and after Jack Hughes escaped punishment for another late tackle, Ashton Sims was placed on report following an altercation with Adam Cuthbertson.

That occurred after Cuthbertson had knocked on with Leeds trying to apply more pressure. It looked like being another long night for Tony Smith's men but to their credit, and finally after a dismal start to the season, they emerged from their torpor.

Atkins sparked the recovery as he collected a Lineham knock-down from a high kick from Declan Patton and crashed over.

He then brilliantly caught a Gidley bomb and forced his way over for a second try, although replays suggested he may have lost control as he touched down.

Patton, starting in place of the injured Kevin Brown, converted both and thought he had created a hat-trick try for Atkins with a fine kick but the video referee ruled Leeds had grounded the ball.

Wire carried the momentum into the second half and a fine move saw Westwood send Lineham over on the left for another converted try.

Leeds were not done and Parcell gave them some hope when he forced his way over from dummy half and Moon brought them right back into contention when he scored from a Brett Delaney flick.

Yet Warrington continued to enjoy spells of pressure themselves and after Westwood had forced a goalline drop-out, Gidley jinked his way through the Leeds line to extend the lead.

Patton capped a fine performance by landing his fourth conversion and adding a late drop goal for good measure.

Match reaction

Warrington coach Tony Smith on the referee's decision not to dismiss Ben Westwood: "(The tackle) was late but there was nothing in it in terms of anything else. It was warranted, the 10 minutes."

Smith added, however, there were some other incidents he was not happy with.

He said: "There might be a couple of other things, chicken wings and those sort of things, that crept in there but we will have a look at that later on."

"I'm pleased for the players. We had faith it was coming.

"There is not much difference between winning and losing. Leeds have played that standard this season and won games. It shows there is not a lot between us."

Leeds coach Brian McDermott: "I haven't seen it enough. He certainly doesn't miss but I wouldn't comment on it.

"If you were to go through our performance in detail you'd find one or two things where we weren't as good as we should be.

"We didn't get much momentum with the ball in the first half but Warrington's kicking game was not far off a 10 out of 10 tonight. We wanted to be more inventive with the ball.

"I find it hard to be critical of my team, though. I thought they dug in and showed a lot of spirit."