AND it was all going so well!

Massive wins against Bradford Bulls and Huddersfield Giants set Wolves up for a potential third straight league win for the first time this season when they met Hull Kingston Rovers in the Murrayfield Magic event in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Wolves, despite missing captain Adrian Morley, Louis Anderson, Paul Wood and Lee Briers, continued where they left off as they swept to a 16-6 lead in 16 minutes against an in-form Robins side seeking a win to put them second in the Super League table.

The estimated 3,000 fans in primrose and blue, singing their hearts out for the team, were definitely of the opinion that the 420-mile round trip was well worthwhile at that stage.

But Wolves, who shuffled their backs around to accommodate Chris Bridge’s switch to stand off, went disastrously off course, failing to score for the next 49 minutes while Rovers took a grip and scored 18 unanswered points.

With scoring then going from end to end until Ben Galea’s deciding second try in the 80th minute, it shows Wolves’ determination to reward their supporters was present until the final hooter but they must be kicking themselves at letting the game slip and suffering their first defeat in three Magic events.

So where did it go wrong?

There were four contributing factors.

Losing Wood to a back injury on the day of the game left Wolves with only one prop on the bench and they did start to lose firepower up front after the opening arm wrestle.

That started to take effect as Wolves, skippered by Michael Monaghan, started to give away a run of penalties.

Wolves still managed to maintain a 16-12 lead for half time but their kicking game fell apart at the start of the second half.

They failed to get in a kick on the last tackle of successive sets early in the second half and Rovers took full advantage on both occasions, crossing twice.

Wolves got their act together, with Jon Clarke restoring some guidance in his second spell at dummy half, but Rovers had their tails up as they matched everything that Wolves chucked at them and were helped by some one-on-one defensive misses in Warrington’s 20m area.

On the plus side, the backline reshuffle did not seem to weaken Wolves’ attacking threat.

Hicks had scored successive hat-tricks with Bridge on his inside and added two more on this occasion on the outside of Paul Johnson, while Simon Grix had probably his best centre performance for Warrington.

Chris Riley looked dangerous every time he carried and his last-gasp tackle to dislodge the ball from Galea’s grasp in the act of scoring a 74th-minute try could have proved to have been a match-turning moment on another day.

Mike Cooper ran strongly when he came off the bench but not having a fourth prop took its toll on the pack.

As for Magic in Edinburgh compared to the previous two in Cardiff, reactions from fans have been mixed.

A few rabbits successfully came out of hats, with stadium refreshments and between-game entertainment an improvement, but the disappearing act as supporters headed for home after the penultimate game meant there was probably less than 10,000 inside Murrayfield for the top-of-the-bill Wolves clash - a shame considering it was arguably the best battle of the weekend.

Match facts

Warrington Wolves 28 Hull KR 36

Wolves: Chris Riley; Chris Hicks (2t, 4g), Paul Johnson, Simon Grix, Matt King; Chris Bridge, Michael Monaghan (1t); Garreth Carvell, Jon Clarke, Paul Rauhihi, Ben Westwood, Vinnie Anderson (2t), Ben Harrison. Subs: Mickey Higham, Mike Cooper, Matty Blythe, Lee Mitchell.

Rovers: Shaun Briscoe (1t); Peter Fox, Jake Webster, Kris Welham, Liam Colbon; Paul Cooke, Michael Dobson (1t, 6g); Mick Vella (1t), Ben Fisher, Scott Wheeldon, Clint Newton (1t), Ben Galea (2t), Scott Murrell. Subs: Makali Aizue, David Mills, Jason Netherton, Daniel Fitzhenry.

Referee: Richard Silverwood

Scoring: Riley dash sets the position and Bridge’s pass over the top puts Hicks over, 4mins, Hicks converts, 6-0; Rauhihi concedes penalty and Briscoe crashes over from Dobson’s short pass, 8mins, Dobson converts, 6-6; Monaghan started and finished move that saw Grix break clear, 12mins, 10-6; Monaghan switches play and two decoy runners open up space to put Anderson clear, 16mins, Hicks converts, 16-6; Dobson scoots through a big hole after Wolves concede three successive penalties and are forced to drop out, 24mins, Dobson adds the goal, 16-12; Mitchell penalised for obstruction as Bridge attempts to kick and Rovers go down field for Galea to steer Vella over, 44mins, Dobson converts, 16-18; Bridge knocks on poor pass on the last tackle and Murrell boots a 40/20 to pave the way for Newton to cross, 51mins, 16-24; Clarke picks out Hicks unmarked for short-range score, 65mins, Hicks tags on extras, 22-24; Galea steps Anderson and then Riley to touch down, 69mins, Dobson converts, 22-30; Hicks is held up inches short of third successive hat-trick but ball is swept wide for Anderson’s second try, 76mins, Hicks converts, 28-30; Galea powers over from close range, 80mins, Dobson converts, 28-36.

Pens: Wolves 7 Rovers 9

Attendance: 30,122

Warrington Guardian top men: Riley 3pts, Grix 2pts, Clarke 1pt.

Interesting note: More than 6,000 Scots were among the 59,749 crowd over the two days of Magic Weekend.