Marshall hat-trick helps Wigan end Huddersfield’s unbeaten start

Correspondent 01 Mar 2020 5:23 PM

Winger Liam Marshall struck three times as Wigan stormed to the top of the Betfred Super League with a 42-10 triumph over previously-unbeaten hosts Huddersfield.

The flying Warrior grabbed two tries in the first half and one in the second as the visitors made it four wins from five starts with an impressive all-round display.

In contrast, it was a poor afternoon for the Giants, who seldom looked like making it four from four at the start of 2020.

There was, however, very little to separate the sides in the opening half hour, with the home side just about deserving their 10-4 lead, courtesy of an Adam O’Brien try and three Aidan Sezer goals to a four-pointer from Willie Isa.

But following the 34th-minute sin-binning of Sezer for a high shot on Thomas Leuluai, the Warriors took the contest by the scruff of the neck, with three tries in the final six minutes of the half.

Marshall immediately took full advantage of an overstretched defence to score in the corner and two minutes later Sam Powell plunged over from close range.

With Zak Hardaker landing his first conversion, that made it 14-10 to the visitors.

But moments later the lead was up to 10 points – thanks to an absolute belter from Marshall.

The winger collected the restart inside his own 20 metre area and, with the hooter for half-time about to sound, kicked deep and won the race to regather before finishing off in the corner, for Hardaker to add the extras.

And within two minutes of the restart and with Sezer still in the bin, Wigan added another well-worked score as Dom Manfredi touched down.

It failed to improve when the Giants half-back returned to the fray as the in-form Marshall scorched over to complete a 13-minute hat-trick, with Hardaker converting to make it 30-10 after 48 minutes.

He also made no mistake on the hour mark after Oliver Partington strolled over from 20 metres for an easy score and, with three minutes remaining, fellow prop George Burgess bulldozed his way over for his first try in Wigan colours and the visitors’ eighth try of the contest. Hardaker’s extras made the final score 42-10 to the visitors.