Winger does his three-Penny bit in Wolves canter

KEVIN Penny scored a nine-minute hat-trick as Wolves eased past Salford at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on Sunday.

Wolves had cruised into a 26-6 lead with 15 minutes to go before the 19-year-old winger made his mark, crossing the line three times in an enthralling finish to the match.

Wolves were able to welcome back Martin Gleeson and Vinnie Anderson from injury in an almost full-strength line-up but Penny kept his place on the left wing after impressive form in recent weeks.

Henry Fa'afili, who went into the game carrying a knock, was on the bench but came on after only 28 minutes when Michael Sullivan left the field with a suspected broken arm.

Wolves also appeared to lose Paul Johnson and Anderson to injury during the match but did take an early lead when Chris Bridge took advantage of Simon Finnigan's slip to surge through the line and put Jon Clarke over.

Lee Briers converted but Luke Dorn stepped inside Anderson and John Wilshere landed the goal to level the scores soon afterwards.

Wolves moved back in front in the 23rd minute when Ben Westwood broke through Andrew Brocklehurst's tackle and Bridge's determined run led to Fa'afili touching down another try after Briers had kicked a penalty.

Briers landed another goal before finishing off a long-range move involving Gleeson and Stuart Reardon to make it 22-6 at half time.

Gleeson nipped past Jordan Turner from Briers' pass to add to Wolves' tally in the 57th minute before Penny collected a pass from Fa'afili to score with what is fast becoming a trademark surge down the touchline.

Four minutes later Briers and Brent Grose combined to put Penny over again and the speedster saved the best until his last try with six minutes left.

Briers kicked from deep inside Wolves' half early in the tackle count and Penny made up several metres on Wilshere to reach the ball first, stab it forward and touch down.

Clarke then completed the scoring with his second try of the game from Fa'afili's break.

Wolves: Brent Grose; Stuart Reardon, Martin Gleeson, Paul Johnson, Kevin Penny; Chris Bridge, Lee Briers; Paul Wood, Jon Clarke, Paul Rauhihi, Ben Westwood, Adrian Morley, Vinnie Anderson. Subs used: Chris Leikvoll, Michael Sullivan, Henry Fa'afili, Rob Parker.

City Reds: John Wilshere, Stuart Littler, Kevin McGuinness, Aaron Moule, Gray Viane; Luke Dorn, Luke Robinson; Andy Coley, Malcolm Alker, Michael Korkidas, Mark Edmondson, Ian Sibbit, Simon Finnigan. Subs used: Andrew Brocklehurst, Gareth Haggerty, David Gower, Jordan Turner.