Warriors beat Warrington

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors defeat Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium.
• The Warriors scored twice in either half to record a third victory of the season over Warrington.
• FT | Wigan Warriors 26-12 Warrington Wolves.

Wigan Warriors climbed to third in the Super League table after a 26-12 victory over Warrington Wolves at the DW Stadium.

Kai Pearce-Paul returned to action for the first time since Round 12 as the Warriors scored two unanswered second half tries to defeat Warrington for a third time in 2023.

Report

The visitors applied pressure in the opening stages, and after Matty Russell almost squeezed over in the corner, Joe Philbin’s offload allowed Daryl Clark to set James Harrison up to crash over with the extras being added.

The Warriors responded positively as Morgan Smithies gained more than 40m after breaking through the middle, before the introduction of Kai Pearce-Paul from the bench was met with an immediate big hit on Stefan Ratchford to force the Warrington captain into touch.

The contest was levelled just before the half hour when a perfectly weighted pass from Bevan French cut out the Warrington defence which allowed Liam Marshall to dive over with Harry Smith adding the extras.

After a penalty allowed the visitors to set up 20m out, Daryl Clark picked up and scooted over to put Warrington back ahead five minutes before the interval.

The Warriors replied immediately when Jake Wardle’s excellently executed dummy and pass inside set French up to dive over. Smith successfully kicked the conversion to send the teams into the break level at 12-12.

A big hit in the opening minutes of the restart from French set the tone for the half, and Wigan took the lead on 45 minutes when Smith kicked a penalty after Marshall was tackled off the ball.

After a pause in play due to a Warrington injury, a strong carry from Pearce-Paul set the Warriors up 20m out. Wigan worked the ball along the backline, before Wardle hit the line at speed to go over. Smith was accurate from the tee to give Wigan a 20-12 lead after 50 minutes.

Smith was alert to sweep up a ball to prevent Warrington from reducing the points difference on the hour, before the Warriors increased their lead when Field broke clear before playing a pass inside to Farrell to score. Smith continued his perfect record from the tee to make the score 26-12 on 72 minutes.

Warrington went close to scoring their first points of the second half when Josh Drinkwater’s kick was almost touched down, but the Warriors maintained their 26-12 advantage until the final whistle.

Gallery:

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Abbas Miski, Toby King, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall, Bevan French, Harry Smith, Kaide Ellis, Brad O’Neill, Liam Byrne, Joe Shorrocks, Liam Farrell, Morgan Smithies.

Interchange: Kai Pearce-Paul, Patrick Mago, Harvie Hill, Junior Nsemba.

18th Player: Cade Cust.

Tries: Marshall (28′), French (38′), Wardle (48′), Farrell (72′).

Goals: Smith (5/5).

Warrington Wolves: Matt Dufty, Matty Russell, Peter Mata’utia, Stefan Ratchford, Greg Minikin, Danny Walker, Josh Drinkwater, Gil Hudson, Daryl Clark, Paul Vaughan, Ben Currie, James Harrison, Joe Philbin.

Interchange: Sam Kasiano, Tom Whitehead, Joe Bullock, Adam Holroyd.

18th Player: Luke Thomas.

Tries: Harrison (8′), Clark (35′).

Goals: Ratchford (2/2).

Attendance: 13,105.

Referee: Chris Kendall.