WIGAN WARRIORS 30 WARRINGTON WOLVES 18
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Friday
THE CONVEYOR belt of ready-made replacements at Wigan continues at warp speed as they shrugged off the loss of a number of key players to see off Warrington and record their sixth successive win in Super League.
Ewan Irwin was outstanding in the halves for Warrington, but he was outshone by the likes of Taylor Kerr, Josh Cartwright, Kian McDermott and Shea O’Connor.
The Wolves got off to a fast start with two tries in the opening eleven minutes through Albert Hopoate and Irwin, before Cartwright – in for Jai Field, who had a minor back issue – crossed for the home side.
The second half was thrilling for Wigan as tries from Kerr, Zach Eckersley, McDermott and Austin Daniel saw the youthful Warriors home.
An early error from Eckersley as he dropped a Leon Hayes bomb put Warrington on the front foot early and Hopoate acrobatically beat Daniel to score in the corner.
It was all Warrington and Irwin then took on the Wigan line and dummied his way over for a great solo score, his two conversions making it 12-0.
After Warrington conceded a number of six-agains, referee Marcus Griffiths had enough and sent James Bentley to the sin bin. Wigan took full advantage of the extra man with Cartwright collecting a ball from Harry Smith before racing away to score, and Adam Keighran made it 6-12.
A rare break from James Harrison looked like setting up a third try for the Wolves, but as he was tackled by Cartwright he offloaded and the ball sailed into touch with the chance going begging.
Wigan saw a chance go awry themselves as a Harry Smith bomb was misjudged by Lachlan Webster, but Keighran was unable to ground the loose ball.
Warrington’s discipline was poor and a fifth penalty conceded in the half appeared to have been punished as Jake Wardle went over, but he failed to ground the ball as he placed it on Josh Smith’s boot and knocked on.
With a minute to go before half-time, Eckersley dropped another kick, but they managed to escape without conceding as Max Wood dropped the ball inches from the line thanks to a great tackle from Oliver Partington.
There was a bizarre start to the second half as Webster made a great break off his own line, only for a Warrington pass to then by intercepted by Eckersley. Then on the back of a six-again, youngster Kerr took a pass from Brad O’Neill and used his strength to power his way over.
Keighran levelled the scores at 12-12, although Warrington opted to nudge two points ahead with an Irwin penalty after Kaide Ellis was penalised for a high shot on the young half.
A knock-on by Kelepi Tanginoa from the kick-off put Warrington under immense pressure and they were unable to keep the Warriors out. A strong drive from Daniel put the hosts in a good position, the ball went right through Kerr, Smith and George O’Loughlin who offloaded for Eckersley to cross over. Keighran converted as Wigan hit the front for the first time.
The Warriors were dominating the arm wrestle now and Kerr was the difference with ball in hand and defence. Wigan were the better team and they thought they had extended their lead with Daniel crossing after great work from Smith and Ellis. Unfortunately for the youngster, video evidence ruled he had dropped the ball over the line.
Warrington had done well to remain in the game under a lot of pressure from the Warriors, and they levelled through Matty Ashton in the corner as the winger showed great strength to get the ball down. Irwin was off target and the game was level at 18-18.
This game had everything and it took Wigan just two minutes to hit the front again. A kick to the corner from Keighran was knocked back and Smith kept his composure to send a short ball to McDermott and he crashed over. Keighran converted and the home side led by six.
Irwin – who was Warrington’s best player by far – thought he had dragged his team back into the contest with a solo score, but the video referee ruled he lost it attempting to put it down.
It proved to be crucial as Wigan took advantage of that second life with Daniel crossing over following a great ball from Smith and Keighran adding his fifth goal.
GAMESTAR: Any of the Wigan youngsters could have got this, but Taylor Kerr was outstanding in defence and attack.
GAMEBREAKER: The decision from video referee to disallow Ewan Irwin’s try that would have levelled the scores with ten minutes to go.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: There was plenty of skill on display, but Harry Smith’s cut-out ball for Austin Daniel to score his first try for the club was sublime.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Taylor Kerr (Wigan)
2 pts Josh Cartwright (Wigan)
1 pts Kian McDermott (Wigan)
MATCHFACTS
WARRIORS
37 Josh Cartwright
2 Zach Eckersley
33 George O’Loughlin
4 Jake Wardle
38 Austin Daniel
3 Adam Keighran
7 Harry Smith
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
23 Kian McDermott
27 Lukas Mason
17 Oliver Partington
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
10 Luke Thompson
15 Patrick Mago
25 Taylor Kerr
41 Shea O’Connor
18th man (not used)
20 Sam Eseh
Also in 21-man squad
1 Jai Field
40 Lewis Daniels
43 Evan Buckley
Tries: Cartwright (18), Kerr (44), Eckersley (51), McDermott (63), Daniel (75)
Goals: Keighran 5/5
WOLVES
35 Lachlan Webster
4 Albert Hopoate
26 Josh Smith
3 Toby King
5 Matty Ashton
18 Ewan Irwin
19 Leon Hayes
21 Luke Thomas
9 Danny Walker
16 Liam Byrne
20 James Bentley
10 James Harrison
13 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
15 Toafofoa Sipley
25 Max Wood
31 Ben Hartill
34 Kelepi Tanginoa
18th man (not used)
11 Adam Holroyd
Also in 21-man squad
1 Cai Taylor-Wray
7 Marc Sneyd
22 Joe Philbin
Tries: Hopoate (5), Irwin (11), Ashton (61)
Goals: Irwin 3/4
Sin bin: Bentley (16) – repeated team offences
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 6-12; 12-12, 12-14, 18-14, 18-18, 24-18, 30-18
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Taylor Kerr; Wolves: Ewan Irwin
Penalty count: 6-3
Half-time: 6-12
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Attendance: 16,621