FULL MARKS FOR

WOLVES' DEFENCE

WOLVES boss Darryl Van de Velde was delighted with his team's defensive showing against Hull FC on Sunday.

Sixth in the table Hull rarely broke down the Wolves' stiffened up blockade in the 41-10 victory at Wilderspool.

Van de Velde said: "I thought our defence, at times, was excellent.

"In the first half Hull had three sets of six at our try line but we repelled them.

"We've not had a problem with our defensive shape all year. That is a structual and team thing and has been in place. But the tackling then comes down to the individuals and we have had players missing one-on-one tackles.

"But on Sunday I was really pleased with the defensive part of our game and the effort."

Van de Velde was asked to comment about Allan Langer's performance against Hull.

He said: "Just how good is he? Alf pushed us around the park well and kicked them to death."

It was suggested that runners are storming on to Langer's passes in improved fashion.

Van de Velde said: "It was always going to take time for players to run off him to the best of the team's advantage."

The Wolves chief was pleased with the work of his stand-in props.

Injuries to Mark Hilton and then Jerome Guisset left Dean Busby, Steve McCurrie and Mike Peters with spells in the front row.

Van de Velde said: "I lost two props in Hilton and Guisset but the other players came on and did a good job. Andrew Gee was the constant and he did a superb job in keeping things together."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.