Struggling Huddersfield Giants conceded another eight tries as they were beaten 38-4 by a dominant Warrington Wolves at the Hallifwell Jones Stadium.
The result leaves the Giants with five defeats and a draw since the sacking of Rick Stone and second bottom of the Super League table.
Warrington extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in comfortable style, after leading 14-4 at the break.
In-form winger Josh Charnley was once again among the tries as he followed his four-try haul against Bradford in the Challenge Cup with a hat trick to make it 10 in six games since his move back to rugby league from rugby union side Sale Sharks.
Stefan Ratchford crossed twice while Tom Lineham, Joe Philbin and Harvey Livett also touched down for Warrington and Bryson Goodwin, Ratchford and Livett all landed one conversion apiece to claim the two points and keep the Wolves in third place in the table.
Huddersfield have now gone eight matches without a win to leave them deep in trouble at the wrong end of the table and their points came from a solitary first-half try by Darnell McIntosh.
The Wolves welcomed back the trio who were rested for the Challenge Cup victory over Bradford Bulls as Lineham, Kevin Brown and Daryl Clark all returned to the starting line-up while Ben Murdoch-Masila recovered from his knee problem to take a place on the bench after missing the last three games.
Jake Mamo returned at full back for the Giants after a seven-game absence with a hamstring injury and Huddersfield also included Jared Simpson, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Michael Lawrence and Tyler Dickinson, who all missed the 66-4 hammering at St Helens.
But the visitors suffered a blow before kick off when stand off Lee Gaskell pulled up injured in the warm-up and Sam Wood was drafted into the squad.
It was a pretty low key start to the game with neither side really threatening the opposition line in the opening quarter of the game and as the home side cranked up the pressure the Huddersfield defence held firm.
The match finally sparked into life on 21 minutes when Ryan Atkins delivered a superb pass to Charnley and the winger went on a weaving 35m run to claim the opening try of the night which Goodwin converted.
But the visitors hit back almost immediately when Jordan Rankin’s bomb was knocked back by Mamo and McIntosh scooped up the loose ball to score, although Rankin hooked the comparatively easy conversion attempt wide.
However, two tries in six minutes put the Wolves in command as firstly a superb inside pass from Livett allowed Ratchford to score and then Ratchford turned provider as the full back’s looping pass gave Lineham the space to race 30m down the touchline to score in the corner and give Warrington a 14-4 half time lead.
The opening exchanges of the second half continued in a similar vein to the first with the slow rucks not helping either side get into any kind of rhythm.
When the Wolves did inject some pace into their play it brought success as Charnley crossed for two quick tries in four minutes midway through the second half to claim his hat trick and stretch their lead.
As the Giants tired the Wolves took full advantage in the closing stages as Ratchford claimed his second and Livett and Philbin also crossed to seal a comfortable victory in the end.
Last night’s results: Castleford 24 Wakefield 4, Warrington 38 Giants 4, Widnes Vikings 24 Wigan Warriors 32.
St Helens full-back Ben Barba has been cleared of serious injury after being taken to hospital with a neck problem.
The free-scoring Australian sustained the injury eight minutes from the end of the Betfred Super League leaders’ 60-10 win over Salford. The match was held up so that Barba could receive treatment
Catalans Dragons’ new signing Josh Drinkwater is acutely aware of the importance of today’s home game against Hull as he prepares to join the club’s battle against relegation.
The 25-year-old Australian, who has been signed to plug the gap created by the retirement of scrum-half Luke Walsh, was in the Leigh team relegated last September after losing in the Million-Pound Game.
“Obviously with the league structure, you want to stay out of the bottom four and, if we can string some wins together in the next few weeks, we’ll get out of it,” said Drinkwater, who also experienced the heartache of relegation at the Broncos.
