Match Report – Wigan 22 – 20 Warrington

Tries from Adam Keighran, Abbas Miski, Jai Field and Bevan French helped to wrap up the victory for Wigan Warriors in the second match of Sunday at Magic Weekend; Warrington hit back through Joe Philbin and Jake Thewlis at the end but could not add the conversion to bring the game level

Wigan Warriors held off Warrington Wolves to secure a close 22-20 victory on day two of Magic Weekend at Newcastle’s St James’ Park.

Wigan had a 12-4 lead at half-time through converted tries from Jai Field and Bevan French, Warrington hitting back with a Jake Thewlis unconverted effort to keep themselves in the game.

Warrington opened the scoring in the second 40 with a Rodrick Tai try, which Stefan Ratchford duly converted, but as Abbas Miski went over then Adam Keighran raced away, Wigan were back on top.

Sam Burgess’ side continued coming and went over through a converted Joe Philbin try and a sensational Thewlis score in the corner, but with Ratchford unable to add the extras for the second, they succumbed to a narrow loss.

Despite being on the end of a defeat, there were certainly positives for Burgess’ side who were without star half-backs Marc Sneyd and George Williams.

Field the star man as Wigan hold off Warrington comeback

In a clash between two old foes, it was Warrington who thought they had opened the scoring in the third minute through Matt Dufty but a knock-on from Arron Lindop in the build-up saw it ruled out.

From that opening opportunity onwards it was all Wigan and they quickly had control, Field sliding over in the corner in the 10th minute before Jake Wardle combined with Field to find French, who put on the afterburners to race in under the sticks, referee Chris Kendal taking a tumble as he got in the way of the action.

With Keighran converting both tries, the Warriors were 12-0 up inside the first quarter without getting out of second gear.

Despite having to deal with all of Wigan’s early pressure, Warrington hit back in the 18th minute through Thewlis, Dufty throwing a brilliant delayed pass to bring the score to 12-4.

Wigan then had efforts ruled out for Field and Kruise Leeming as they hunted for a third try, having to make do with the 12-4 lead at the break.

The second half then saw Warrington come out with real intent, Tai finishing off a brilliant kick from Oli Leyland in the corner and Ratchford landing the conversion to move them within two points of Wigan.

However, Wigan’s attacking class came to fruition in their first attack of the second 40, Field sending a silky cut-out pass for Miski to walk in on the wing, Keighran converting to move them 18-10 ahead.

Warrington kept on coming back and tried to find the breakthrough but Wigan silenced the Wolves fans as Leyland’s kick fell nicely for Keighran to pick up and race down the right to go over with just 10 minutes remaining.

Burgess’ side were not done though, and managed to barrel over from close range through Philbin, before Thewlis finished off a Dufty break in the corner. Ratchford was unable to convert the second as the scores were tight at 22-20 with just under four minutes remaining.

From there, Wigan held firm and kept Warrington out of scoring territory to leave Magic Weekend as the victors against one of their local rivals.

Peet: I thought Warrington might get us in the end | Burgess: I’m really proud – no one gave us a chance

Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet told Sky Sports…

“I had a feeling it might be that kind of game. Warrington will be proud, they were great. I thought they might get us at the end, but we had enough.

“It was a strange game, very stop-start. Warrington were quality, nothing changed [at the end], but we finished it in front.

“You always know you can lose at these events, but I had every faith in the players.”

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess to Sky Sports…

“I thought we were tough, but I didn’t expect anything less.

“Wigan are a great side, but we didn’t give ourselves a great chance in the first half, and missed a couple of opportunities in the second.

“I’m really proud of them. I don’t think one person in the stadium gave us a chance.

“We’ve got a lot of guys on the sidelines at the minute. We’ll lick our wounds and review the game in the morning.

“Although we don’t want them, injuries have been a positive for us in terms of finding different ways to evolve. I’m looking forward to them coming back into the group and adding to what we’ve already built.”

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