Twelve man Wigan sneak past Wire
Warrington will have to wait another week to see if they can lift the League Leader’s shield after suffering a 33-28 defeat against Wigan at the Haliwell Jones Stadium.
Wigan drew first blood in the game, Lewis Tierney profiteering from George Williams’ neat pass before diving over in the corner.
A Matty Smith penalty put the Warriors further in front, after Ashton Sims was penalized for interference on Ben Flower.
Joe Westerman looked close to diving across but was stopped in his tracks and pushed out into touch courtesy of Tierney and Williams.
Tierney looked certain for his second try of his match with 17 minutes played, but Rhys Evans was there to crucially knock Williams’ kick out into touch.
Another Smith penalty ensured the Wolves kept Wigan at arm’s length going into the second quarter of the first half.
Matthew Russell scored Warrington’s first try of the match in the 24th minute after Declan Patton’s pass out wide.
The Wolves were down on the scoreboard and they were soon down on men after Stefan Ratchford was sent to the sin bin for what the referee Robert Hicks adjudged to be a professional foul on Tierney.
Warrington might have been a man light but they took the lead for the first time in the match, Kurt Gidley touching down before Toby King added the extras.
Just as Wigan started the better of the two sides, Warrington made the strongest finish in the first half, Chris Hill scoring a second try in three minutes for the Wolves.
The Wire may have been guilty of resting on their laurels a bit after Sam Tomkins managed to dive across right before the interval.
Westerman restored Warrington’s buffer six minutes into the second half after Wigan conceded a series of penalties.
Gidley continued to dictate play for the Wolves, picking out Ben Currie who touched down.
Tierney looked to respond quickly for the Warriors by diving across but the try was disallowed after Liam Farrell’s pass was adjudged to be forward.
Any chances of a comeback from Wigan was dealt a hammer blow when Ben Flower was shown a red card for an elbow to the face of Patton.
Josh Charnley rounded off a brilliant move from Wigan to touch down after a breakaway run by Williams.
The Warriors continued to defy the odds, Charnley dashing across the whitewash for his second try in four minutes. Jake Shorrocks nailed the conversion to bring Wigan back to within a one-try score.
Wigan were level with eight minutes left, Tierney touching down in the corner after confirmation from the video referee.
Shorrocks missed the conversion which meant the scores were tied at 28-28.
A drop goal from Smith edged the Warriors in front by a single point with minutes left to play.
A late Anthony Gelling try made sure of victory for Wigan.
