WIGAN WARRIORS 23 YORK KNIGHTS 22
DAVID KUZIO, The Brick Community Stadium, Thursday

NOAH HODKINSON scored his first Super League try as Wigan hit back from 14-0 down to see off a determined York outfit.

After five rounds it’s clear York are not in Super League to make up the numbers, and they raced ahead thanks to tries from David Nofoaluma and Paul Vaughan plus six points from the boot of Danny Richardson.

A controversial yellow card for Ata Hingano saw the Knights down to twelve, and while he was off the field Liam Marshall scored twice to reduce the deficit to 14-10 at half time.

Hodkinson and Adam Keighran tries, plus an ultimately crucial Harry Smith field-goal, sealed victory despite Hingano setting up a tense finish for brave York, who lost Paul McShane to a suspected broken hand.

Wigan had started the game strongly but York’s defence snuffed them out three times before McShane’s kick was dropped by Keighran and Nofoaluma was on hand to pick up and score the opener, converted by Richardson.

The Knights were growing in confidence, and they thought they had their second try as Ben Jones-Bishop touched down in the corner. Marcus Griffiths awarded the try on the field, but the video referee intervened and the score was chalked off.

Jones-Bishop was also denied a length-of-the-field try by young Hodkinson, but they did extend their lead when Vaughan forced his way over from close range.

Richardson made it 12-0, and then slotted a penalty over for another two points.

Wigan needed to score before the break and after a couple of set restarts and a penalty which saw Hingano sent to the sin bin for the final offence, they did just that. Marshall was on the end of a great passing move that involved Smith, Jack Farrimond and Hodkinson to score, and Keighran converted.

The Warriors then grabbed a second try straight from the kick-off. A great break from Junior Nsemba saw him offload to Liam Farrell, who managed to get the ball to Marshall to go over.

Keighran was off target, but they only trailed by four at the break.

Wigan came out fired up in the second half and thought they had turned continuous pressure into points as Marshall looked to have acrobatically grounded the ball from a long Hodkinson pass, but the video referee judged he did not get the ball down.

A penalty was given for an incident in back play, however, and they took their next chance as Hodkinson picked up a loose ball from a Farrimond kick and did well to push off Jesse Dee to race over.

Keighran converted to put Wigan in front for the first time but York refused to lie down and received a penalty which Richardson converted to level the game at 16-16.

Marshall forced a drop-out following a neat kick from Kaide Ellis and from the resulting set Wigan retook the lead. Farrimond took the line on and drew in the York defence before sending Keighran over to score, with the centre also converting.

Smith looked to have sealed victory with a drop-goal, taking their lead to seven points, but a try from Hingano after a great break from Sam Cook set up a tense finish with Richardson converting to make it 23-22 with four minutes remaining.

But York made a mistake when in field-goal territory and the league leaders held on, that Smith one-pointer proving to be the difference.

GAMESTAR: Adam Keighran was immense for the Warriors, scoring a crucial try in the second half while being superb in defence.

GAMEBREAKER: The decision to send Ata Hingano to the bin in the first half with York 14-0 in front was crucial, while Harry Smith’s field-goal ensured Wigan extended their unbeaten start.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Noah Hodkinson’s strength and speed off the mark to grab his first senior try for the Warriors.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Adam Keighran (Wigan)
2 pts Noah Hodkinson (Wigan)
1 pt Ata Hingano (York)

MATCHFACTS

WARRIORS
28 Noah Hodkinson
2 Zach Eckersley
3 Adam Keighran
12 Liam Farrell
5 Liam Marshall
19 Jack Farrimond
7 Harry Smith
8 Ethan Havard
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
11 Junior Nsemba
14 Sam Walters
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs
15 Patrick Mago
17 Oliver Partington
20 Sam Eseh
26 Nathan Lowe (not used)
18th man (Not used)
25 Taylor Kerr
Also in 21-man squad
22 Tom Forber
23 Kian McDermott
32 Dayon Sambou

Tries: Marshall (29, 31), Hodkinson (52), Keighran (65)
Goals: Keighran 3/4
Field-goals: Smith (70)

KNIGHTS
1 Toa Mata’afa
2 Ben Jones-Bishop
4 Sam Wood
26 Nikau Williams
46 David Nofoaluma
19 Danny Richardson
6 Ata Hingano
15 Xavier Va’a
9 Paul McShane
10 Paul Vaughan
11 Josh Griffin
12 Jesse Dee
29 Sam Cook
Subs (all used)
8 Jack Martin
14 Denive Balmforth
16 Justin Sangaré
20 Oli Field
18th man (not used)
5 Scott Galeano
Also in 20-man squad
21 Kieran Buchanan
24 Will Dagger

Tries: Nofoaluma (12), Vaughan (20), Hingano (76)
Goals: Richardson 5/5
Sin bin: Hingano (28) – repeated team offences

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 0-14, 6-14, 10-14; 16-14, 16-16, 22-16, 23-16, 23-22

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Adam Keighran; Knights: Ata Hingano

Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 10-14
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Attendance: 13,187