St Helens have moved into top spot in Super League with a 30-14 victory over Wigan tonight at Langtree Park, with a superb second-half performance.
Wigan took an early lead after eleven minutes when Dan Sarginson touched down from a smart pass by George Williams, with Matty Smith adding the goal.
St Helens replied after 28 minutes shortly after Taulima Tautai had conceded a penalty. Smart passing saw Adam Swift over in the corner, too far out for Mark Percival to convert.
And Saints were in again four minutes later when Jordan Turner shrugged off an attempted tackle from Joel Tomkins to touch down, although again Percival couldn’t convert.
Saints appeared to be getting on top, but with two minutes before the interval Joe Burgess picked up a loose ball ten metres from his own line and raced away to touch down. Smith couldn’t convert, but Wigan had taken an 8-10 lead.
But Saints hit back three minutes into the second half, when a grubber from Jon Wilkin bounced badly for Matty Bowen, and Travis Burns pounced to touh down, with Percival’s goal making it 14-10.
Tomkins then replied for Wigan to draw the game level on 50 minutes.
But the game turned when Saints were awarded a penalty for interference and Percival converted it, and they then scored two tries from Wigan mistakes.
First, Bowen dropped a Wilkin bomb and Shannon McDonnell was able to touch down, and then Wilkin himself touched down when he picked out a mis-directed pass from Sarginson. Percival converted both tries for a 28-14 scoreline, and then added a late penalty to complete the scoring.
A full report, photos and analysis will feature in Monday’s edition of League Express.
