Rea full of praise for Broncos' sterling fightback

London Broncos 28 Warrington Wolves 24

Tony Rea saluted his never-say-die London Broncos side yesterday after they mounted a second-half fightback to beat the Warrington Wolves 28-24 at Griffin Park.

Tony Rea saluted his never-say-die London Broncos side yesterday after they mounted a second-half fightback to beat the Warrington Wolves 28-24 at Griffin Park.

The Wolves led 16-12 at the break, but the Broncos came storming back to open their Super League campaign with a win. The full-back Paul Sykes scored 12 points for the Broncos and his accuracy with the boot proved crucial as both sides ran in five tries.

Luke Dorn gave Broncos the perfect start with a try after 43 seconds. "The dream start was very good, but when you score that early it can work against you," Rea, the Broncos coach, said. "But we have a lot of character in the team and I knew we would get back into the game when we fell behind.

"It is good to get a result at the start [of Super League], but we're here for the long haul and not just for the early games. We have got a lot of players who express themselves and we like that at the Broncos. If you are a person who likes expansive play, you won't see better rugby, of either code, in London."

Warrington were weaker for the loss of the substitute prop Paul Wood, who suffered an ankle injury minutes after coming on.

The Wolves coach, Paul Cullen, said: "Paul has a serious ankle injury. He will go for a scan to see whether the initial fears of it being broken were right or if it is just ligament damage."

London Broncos: Lucky Luisi; Wells, Sykes, O'Halloran, Bradley-Qalilawa; Dorn, Leuluai; Tookey, McLinden, Trindall, Haumono, Hopkins, Purdham, Stringer. Replacements used: Smith, Trindall, Stringer, Tookey, Armour.

Warrington Wolves: Grose; Gaskell, Kohe-Love, Martin Gleeson, Faa'fili; Briers, N Wood; Leikvoll, Matt Gleeson, Hilton, Swann, Wainwright, Clarke, P Wood. Replacements used: Appo, P Wood, Westwood.

Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley).