34 Warrington
30 Huddersfield
by James Nalton
at Mike Gregory Way

Warrington defeated Huddersfield by 34 points to 30 on Saturday, as both sides head into the Super 8s facing challenges of a different kind.

Fartown found themselves rooted to the bottom of the table following the 23-round regular season after local rivals Leeds crept up the league standings in recent weeks. Huddersfield’s points total is now reset to zero as they join seven other teams in the qualifiers where they hope to retain their Super League status for next year.

The Wire head into the Super 8s where the teams retain their current points totals and fight it out for the League Leaders Shield. The top four advance to the play-offs and the chance to play in the Grand Final at Old Trafford.

The game between these two sides saw plenty of tries in a closely contested match. But both will be hoping to improve the quality of their play as they head into the business end of the competition.

It certainly didn’t look like a contest between teams at opposite ends of the table, which is more worrying for Warrington than it is for Huddersfield.

Giants’ winger Gene Ormsby crossed for a hat-trick against his former club, as the Wolves struggled to defend down their left side. Left winger Matty Russell was switched to full back but Ormsby continued to have plenty of joy on that side of the field, suggesting the problems in the home side’s defence lay elsewhere.

A length of the field try from Stefan Ratchford opened the scoring and, when Ben Currie went over shortly after, it looked like the game would reflect the club’s respective positions in the table.

But the Wolves defence began to break up, allowing the visitors to score three tries in the space of 10 minutes.

Each time Warrington took the lead their defence would let them down at the other end and when Craig Huby crossed with 10 minutes remaining, it looked like Huddersfield might snatch an unlikely win.

But the Wolves stepped up a gear, attacking relentlessly before Daryl Clark crossed to give his side the two points and secure second place in the table.

Warrington join Hull FC, Wigan, St Helens, Catalans, Wakefield, Castleford and Widnes in the Super League Super 8s.