Wigan v Stains

[TrueBlueWarrior]

Few things:

1. Well done boys always good beating the rivals now back it up Monday.

2. Very mediocre performance as Stains were there for a trouncing!

3. Both teams had players missing so that didn't effect the result too much.

4. Dom Crosby was excellent along with Taylor.

5. Stains first try was never grounded.

6. Silverwood gave us nothing as Stains were holding down all game.

7. Are Silverwood and LMS lovers? As how LMS stays on the pitch is astounding.

8. Smith is definitely a cause for concern defensively.

9. Jack Hughes is better than he showed today.

10. A win is a win against them.

[Kiwiseddon]

We should have been miles ahead by half time. A 40 pointer was definitely on. Some of what we did was great but some absolute howlers too.
I was sat at home screaming at the TV because of our errors. So frustrating when they were there for the taking.

Enough but not where we should have been.

Oh and LMS should have been binned.

[Wes]

Matty Smith was excellent in attack today! Scott Taylor too.

[Kittwazzer]

Few things:

1. Well done boys always good beating the rivals now back it up Monday.Correct

2. Very mediocre performance as Stains were there for a trouncing!as were we in 2003

3. Both teams had players missing so that didn't effect the result too much.

4. Dom Crosby was excellent along with Taylor.

5. Stains first try was never grounded.correct. So why was Jon Wells able to find the camera angle the VR couldn't?

6. Silverwood gave us nothing as Stains were holding down all game. no argument there

7. Are Silverwood and LMS lovers? As how LMS stays on the pitch is astounding.LMS is a Cockney. Draw your own conclusions

8. Smith is definitely a cause for concern defensively.

9. Jack Hughes is better than he showed today. without a doubt. Felt sorry for the lad but we all have days like that. Ask Michael Fish, Gerald Ratner. Not forgetting our lord!

10. A win is a win against them.which is all that matters!

Come on you Salford!!!

[josie andrews]

Wigan Win Derby Clash

Wigan Warriors 28

T - Richards 2, S Tomkins, Charnley, Crosby

G - Richards 4/5

St Helens 16

T - Clough, Meli, Makinson

G - Percival 2/3

A Pat Richards brace proved vital as Wigan Warriors stormed to a fourth successive Good Friday triumph with a 28-16 win over St Helens.

The Warriors took a commanding 18-0 lead into the break but a stern second-half fightback from St Helens ensured Wigan were made to work for the league points.

Despite a first derby try for Dom Crosby restoring a commanding advantage for Wigan with 20 minutes to go, Saints still managed to ensure a nervy finish when a superb try finished by Tom Makinson started a comeback.

Saints started strongly and managed to find their way deep into Warriors territory but an early chance was wasted when a Paul Wellens pass intended for Ade Gardner went in touch.

But it was Richards who broke the deadlock in the tenth minute when Matty Smith and Blake Green combined well before Iain Thornley provided the vital final pass.

The move started when Smith sent Darrell Goulding through a gap in the defence to set-up the attack.

Richards nailed the touchline conversion to ensure a smooth start for the Warriors.

Tomkins put Wigan further ahead when Smith's sharp pass allowed Jack Hughes to break through before drawing Tom Makinson which gave Tomkins an unopposed sprint to the line.

Wigan's lead was further extended by Josh Charnley when he brought the crowd to their feet with a supercharged race to score.

Charnley found himself with the ball after Josh Jones' high kick was allowed to hit the deck in Wigan territory, leaving the winger in a one on one race against Francis Meli.

Saints came out on fire for the second half with Tom Makinson making an early break which signaled the start of a period of dominance for the away side.

With Wigan desperately defending their line, Paul Clough muscled in with five minutes gone to get Saints off the mark.

It took a look from the video referee to make sure he got it down but this gave them confidence as well as a sense they were still in the fight.

Against the run of play, Wigan quickly found their way upfield from a 20 metre restart with 23 minutes left on the clock for Crosby to edge his way through from a typically pint-point Blake Green Pass.

But still Saints weren't done and responded with two tries of their own to put them back into contention in the final fifteen minutes.

Following a sloppy penalty from the kick-off, Saints used the easy field position to send Meli over which was followed by Makinson's score, coming from the best attacking rugby St Helens produced all afternoon.

Jordan Turner somehow managed to slip the ball away to Meli as he was being dumped into touch, leaving Charnley to hunt down the giant winger.

As Charnley closed-in Makinson's enthusiastic support play meant he was in place to accept Meli's pass and set-up a tense finish.

But Wigan had other ideas. Moving the ball effectively upfield once more, an audacious pass from Liam Farrell found Richards who put the game to bed with his second.

Team News -

Wigan Warriors - Sam Tomkins, Josh Charnley, Darrell Goulding, Iain Thornley, Pat Richards, Blake Green, Matty Smith, Dom Crosby, Michael McIlorum, Ben Flower, Chris Tuson, Liam Farrell, Sean O'Loughlin

Replacements - Jack Hughes, Scott Taylor, Logan Tomkins, Greg Burke

St Helens - Tom Makinson, Ade Gardner, Jordan Turner, Mark Percival, Francis Meli, Paul Wellens, Jon Wilkin, Anthony Laffranchi, Stuart Howarth, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Josh Jones, Willie Manu, Anthony Walker

Replacements - Mark Flanagan, Paul Clough, Alex Walmsley, Sia Soliola

Referee - Richard Silverwood

Attendance - 23,861

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

[DaveO]

Just got back. Not a bad journey home considering the excellent crowd.

Getting there not so easy as some Rocket Scientist decided to undertake some roadworks on the dual carriage way after the roundabout at J25 on the M6.

Bank holiday derby and they close a lane on the road the opposition fans would be using? Crazy.

As to the game should have been 30 nil at half time without a doubt. Smith went for glory when he should have gone right and Hughes dropped a sitter. I can understand it from Hughes as this was a Wigan - Saints derby and he just took his eye off the ball probably in his excitement. As someone else said he didn't have a good day overall but he is a better player than that. Smith on the other hand should know better. Apart from that Smith played well again but I bet Wane had a word about that one.

18-0 instead of 30 - 0 left Saints with enough of a sniff and add that to a nervous start to the second half from Wigan and the win was much harder than it needed to have been. I think we must have made more mistakes in that game and missed more tackles than all the rest of the season put together. Be interesting to see the stats.

However even though that was a below par and at times frustrating Wigan performance we still got the two points. Another great long range try to enjoy and Cosby and Taylor were great. So was Faz who is having an excellent season so far.

Cosby must have thought all his Christmases had come at once. A try, a derby win, MoM and all in front of a sell out home crowd. He will remember that game for a long time

[josie andrews]

[IMG]http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg36 ... dd5eee.jpg[/IMG]

Sam & Josh celebrating Good Friday 29.03.2013

[cpwigan]

Beating Saints is always great BUT definetly a missed opportunity to wipe Saints faces into the 'mud'. At 18-0 we were dominant and clinical. Thereafter we were careless and clumsy.

N.B WW and other happy clappers what I am saying is exactly what Wane said post game. The best aspect of this site is fans can see both positives and negatives.

Silverwood let plenty go both ways and as such was fair albeit poor. Offside for me was a big issue both ways.

Lockers and Sam are clearly not fit and we need to get them so, if need be rest them.

To me, once Mac went off we lost momentum and control. Logan has been doing very well but today you could see a difference once Mac went off. Likewise Hughes had an indifferent game with too many handling errors. Flower was inconsistent too.

Wigan can win a GF or a CC but they need to respect possession far more and adopt a cold clinical approach for the full game.

Charnley was superb IMO, great footwork. Crosby and Taylor were great value too. Likewise Pat.

Always nice to beat Saints but we can do far better. I thought Saints were poor and I am not sure they have a proper game plan with people in their right positions.

[TrueBlueWarrior]

hudds and wire beaten aswell,good day allround

We need to back up Monday which will be very tough!

[DaveO]

hudds and wire beaten aswell,good day allround

Couple of shock results there! That win won't have done Betts standing any harm after the mauling his side got at the DW.

Be a hard game for us Monday with Lockers in particular looking well below 100%