THREE late tries ensured Vikings came up on the losing side of their festive friendly against Warrington Wolves.

Stefan Marsh, Ryan Ince, Keanan Brand and Liam Walsh all crossed for Denis Betts’ side, but it was not enough to stop a 28-18 scoreline in Wolves’ favour.

Harvey Livett and Ryan Atkins had kept them in touch before Toby King, Declan Kay and Rhys Evans all crossed late on.

Vikings fans got their first taste of the half-back partnership between Joe Mellor and Tom Gilmore and they contributed to a bright start from the hosts.

A 40/20 from Danny Craven led to their first try, with Mellor firing an excellent miss out pass for Marsh to score in the corner.

Both sides had chances to score for the remainder of the half, but it was Wolves who made the next breakthrough when Marsh dropped a high kick from Joe Westerman and allowed Livett to cross and level matters.

However, almost straight away, Vikings regained the lead when a superb grubber kick from Gilmore saw Ince slide over and give them a four-point lead at the break.

After an attritional start to the second half, it was Betts’ men who extended their advantage when Brand produced an acrobatic finish in the corner.

Wolves hit straight back though when Benjamin Jullien’s short pass sent Atkins through a gaping hole in the home defence.

As interchanges and handling errors started to affect the flow of the game, the home side scored their fourth try when a high kick from the increasingly confident Gilmore was not dealt with and Walsh pounced on the loose ball to score.

Once again, though, Warrington’s response was almost immediate as Toby King charged down a kick to race across and narrow the gap to just two points again.

The deficit became a four-point lead with just seven minutes left when Atkins timed his pass perfectly to allow Kay to cross.

Widnes: Craven; Ince, Armstrong, Runciman, Marsh; Mellor, Gilmore; Manuokafoa, D Walker, J Chapelhow, Brooks, Leuluai, B Walker. Subs: Burke, Heremaia, Brand, Chamberlain, T Chapelhow, Walsh, Johnstone, Ashall, Norman.

Attendance: 3,576.