Wigan lose out at Magic

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors lose out against St Helens at Magic Weekend.
• French scored a double, with Bateman also on the scoresheet as Wigan fell to defeat.
• FT | Wigan Warriors 18-20 St Helens.

A late try from St Helens saw Wigan fall to a narrow defeat in a derby thriller at Magic Weekend.

An arm wrestle in the first forty saw a low-scoring first half. Saints got the first points on the board with a penalty goal in the 6th minute for a high tackle. Bevan French got the only try of the first half on the half hour, converted by Smith for a 6-2 advantage for the Warriors at the break.

Bateman opened the second half scoring with a fantastic link-up effort with French but Saints launched a comeback with two tries to make it 12-12 with 15 minutes to go. Bevan French finished off a magic move to get Wigan back in front late on, but a response from Regan Grace before a Lomax score right at the death stole to win from the Warriors.

Report

St Helens got the first points on the board as a high tackle close to the goal line allowed Saints a penalty, they opted to kick at goal which Bennison converted for 2-0.

An end-to-end contest saw the score remain 2-0 as we reached the 20 minute mark, despite close efforts from Regan Grace up Wigan’s end of the field and a good half break from Liam Marshall for Wigan.

French was agonisingly close to getting the first try of the game as he chased a grubber kick through from Harry Smith, Grace collected the ball first but great defence from French forced the goal line drop out to get Wigan straight back on the attack.

On the half hour, Bevan French did eventually get the opening try, finding himself in space on the right edge for Jai Field to fire out a pass for French to glide over. Harry Smith added the touchline conversion to make it 6-4 to Wigan.

Sam Powell thought he has extended the lead right on the half time hooter as a Cade Cust kick through was then helped on again by the boot of Powell before touching down but the video referee adjudged that he was offside and Wigan went in with the 6-2 advantage at the interval.

A much faster start to the second half saw Isa send Bevan French racing down the right wing, French chipped a kick inside for John Bateman to collect and score close to the uprights in a sublime move from the Warriors. Smith made it two-from-two with the boot to extend Wigan’s lead to 12-2.

10 minutes later and Saints got their first try on the board, Welsby going through a gap to get the ball to Batchelor who put a kick past his defender to touch down. From the touchline, Bennison couldn’t convert the effort as Wigan had the 6-point advantage.

Jack Welsby crossed in the 58th minute to get St Helens back in range, the full back raced for the line and despite a tangle with Bevan French, he managed to get the ball down. Bennison was off target for a second time from the touchline to leave Wigan with the slight 12-10 lead.

With 15 minutes to go, Brad Singleton was shown a red card from the referee to see Wigan finish the game with 12-men. From the penalty, Bennison slotted a two-pointer to level the scores.

On the 70 minute mark Bevan French got Wigan back in front, Jai Field broke through the line to race close to the line, but with the Saints defensive line looming he chipped the ball out wide for French to pick up and score, converted by Smith Wigan led 18-12.

St Helens wouldn’t go down without a fight and they got one back with 5 minutes remaining, Regan Grace finding space on the left edge to get away. Bennison was unable to convert from out wide and Wigan led 18-16 with the clock ticking down.

A late flurry from St Helens saw Jonny Lomax score to steal a 20-18 win from Wigan at the death at Magic Weekend.

Gallery:

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Bevan French, Willie Isa, Jake Bibby, Liam Marshall, Cade Cust, Harry Smith, Brad Singleton, Sam Powell, Liam Byrne, Liam Farrell, John Bateman, Joe Shorrocks.

Interchange: Morgan Smithies, Patrick Mago, Oliver Partington, Ethan Havard.

Tries: French (30′, 70′), Bateman (43′)

Goals: Smith 3/3

Red card: Singleton (65′)

St Helens: Will Hopoate, Jon Bennison, Konrad Hurrell, Sione Mata’utia, Regan Grace, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax, Agnatius Paasi, James Roby, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles.

Interchange: Joey Lussick, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jake Wingfield, Dan Norman.

Tries: Batchelor (52′), Welsby (58′), Grace (74′), Lomax (78′)

Goals: Bennison 2/6

Referee: Liam Moore