Warrington Wolves 28

London Broncos 14

IT took longer than it should have to kill off the Broncos but the Wolves gritted their teeth and eventually clinched their first Super League double over London.

The victory kept up the heat on the current top five clubs but there was a scare on Sunday as London recovered from 18-6 to 18-14 midway through the second half.

After dominating the game for so long but not taking all of their scoring chances it meant Warrington still had all their work to do.

Skipper and back rower Simon Gillies was the man who showed the way. His 58th minute touch down, his third in the game, sunk the Broncos' revival and ended their feint hopes of a top five finish.

It has been the Wolves' problem for much of the season, controlling or at least being in the running during games but then failing to find the killer touch.

But this one did not escape them and all the hard work from the likes of Danny Nutley, Gary Chambers, Mike Wainwright, Ian Knott, Lee Briers and Scott Wilson was rewarded. Defeat was not in the team's Sunday vocabulary because a loss would probably have turned the lights out on their own Grand Final series hopes.

Good tactics sealed this win. Aggressive defence on the back of good Lee Briers kicking kept London pinned in their own half for most of the game.

Switching Briers and Scott Wilson between the half back positions caused confusion in the London defence.

And using substitute Dean Busby as a second half prop to give impressive Gary Chambers a rest from the humid conditions gave the pack extra steam.

Skipper Gillies gave Warrington an electric start with two tries in the opening eight minutes. The first came after he stooped low between two defenders, punishing John Timm for a high tackle on Alan Hunte a few tackles earlier.

Aggressive three-pronged tackling on Chris Ryan pushed him back to his own line. Then hooker Robbie Beazley knocked on and Gillies scooped up the loose ball to pile over. Jon Roper goaled to make it 10-0 and added a penalty soon after for a high tackle on Lee Briers.

London's first threatening attack caught Warrington cold from a penalty with quick-thinking Karle Hammond taking them by surprise with a tap and run with support from Tulsen Tollett and Greg Fleming to finish off the 60m break. Brett Warton goaled.

Roper found touch from the re-start and it put the Wolves on the attack again. Briers picked out Toa Kohe-Love to spin out of Timm's tackle and touch down. Roper was wide but added a 34th minute penalty goal to make it 18-6.

After the break Briers knocked the ball out of Hammond's hands in a tackle and was alleged to have knocked on. From the base of the scrum loose forward Gill darted down the narrow side to create an overlap and put winger Dominic Peters over in the corner. Warton's touchline converson edged the Broncos back into the game at 18-12 with 32 minutes to go.

London pulled back another two points from the boot of substitute Rob Smyth after Ian Knott was caught offside.

With Warrington needing inspiration, Gillies crashed through a tackle off a lovely delayed pass by Wilson to cross for his first Wolves hat-trick and Roper's goal put Warrington 10 points clear.

A barnstorming Steve McCurrie drive set up the final score as neat interchanges between Farrar and Wilson resulted in a try for Briers.

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