WARRINGTON Wolves maintained their position at the top of the Valvoline Cup table after a thrilling high scoring victory over Salford City Reds at Wilderspool Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The game was end to end with both sides showing some great attacking flair, but it was the home side who managed to record the win despite a brave effort from a spirited Reds side.

After the game Wolves Under 20s Head Coach Richard Marshall said, “To concede 34 points at home is disappointing but credit must go to Salford who put up a really spirited performance.

"They rattled us at times and played some really good rugby.

"Usually when we score two or three tries we pull away from sides but they didn't let us do that.

"Having said that a win is a win so we have to be pleased with that aspect.

"James Saltonstall is only just 17 and produced another top performance and Ben Hellewell came up with some very important plays at the right time.

"Gene Ormsby and Bobbie Goulding both came up from the under 18s and had good games and it was also good to have Jamie Peasnell back after a long injury layoff.”

Marshall added: “We are now at the halfway point of the season having played 10 games, so we will have a review and set our targets for the second half of the campaign.

"We will be looking at promoting some more of the under 18s over the next few weeks to keep the other lads on their toes. We travel to Castleford next Saturday and will be looking to continue our winning run.”

Wolves opened the scoring in the fourth minute when hooker Jon Clarke went on his own from dummy half and shot through a gap before finding scrum half Jordan Burke in support to race over under the posts, with Bobbie Goulding converting.

Reds replied in style as they battled back into the lead with two converted tries from Jon Ford, with Craig Noon adding bothg conversions.

But Wolves were to end the first half in the lead, as Jamie Peasnall, returning to the side after a long layoff with a knee injury, made a break that put Liam Hulme over to the left of the posts.

This was soon followed by Wolves punishing a Salford mistake, centre Jame Mendeika swooping to score, with Goulding once again goaling both to give them a 18-12 half time lead.

Salford hooker Gareth Owen wasted no time in pegging back the hosts in the second half, racing away from 40 metres to score out wide, with Noon landing the kick.

It was back and forth in the second half, with Wolves responding through Mendeika and a Goulding conversion, only for Salford to put winger Scott Wilson over on the left, with Noon converting to bring them level once again.

Wolves' Ben Hellewell showed his pace when intercepting a Salford pass to sprint 60 metres to score, before adding a second with a strong drive over the line despite the attention of three defenders.

Burke stretched the lead to 16 points when he was first to a Ryan Shaw kick, but still Salford refused to buckle and scored twice before the end through Whitehead and Hargreaves to give the home crowd something to worry about.

Wolves: Gene Ormsby, Ben Hellewell, Paul Brearley, James Mendeika, Ryan Shaw, Bobbie Goulding, Jordan Burke, Jack Morrison, Jon Clarke, Brad Brennan, James Saltonstall, James Laithwaite, Andrew Finn.

Subs: Jamie Peasnell, Gavin Williams, Liam Hulme, Jack Cooper.