Warriors win in the Capital

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors win away to London Broncos on Saturday afternoon.
• Wigan scored ten tries through nine different scorers in a confident win on the road.
• FT | London Broncos 22-60 Wigan Warriors.

Wigan Warriors made four changes for their trip to London Broncos, where Ten tries from Nine different scorers saw Wigan to a great win on the road.

Young half-back Jack Farrimond made his Club debut as Matt Peet made four changes to the side that beat Huddersfield in Round 3 at the DW Stadium, with Eckersley and Hampshire returning to the starting line-up, alongside Junior Nsemba on his return from knee surgery.

Wigan ran in four first half tries in the capital as they built up a good 22-10 lead before the break. Wardle opened the proceedings before Abbas Miski, Tyler Dupree and Harvie Hill all crossed the whitewash.

London reduced the deficit immediately from kick-off but the Warriors responded with tries from Brad O’Neill, Patrick Mago, Ryan Hampshire and a first Super League try for Zach Eckersley. Harvie Hill added his second score of the game before Adam Keighran rounded off proceedings with his first score for the Club.

Report

A scrappy start in the Capital saw London with the best of the opening opportunities but an error from the Broncos in the 5th minute allowed Farrimond, on debut, to send Jake Wardle into space to ease over for the opening score of the game. Adam Keighran converted for 6-0 to the Warriors.

Matt Peet’s men extended their lead just a few minutes later as Abbas Miski scored against his former side. Good work on the right edge allowed the winger to power towards the line and sneak over under defensive pressure. Keighran was unable to convert as Wigan had the 10-0 advantage.

The Broncos responded 5 minutes later. Wigan were penalised for shepharding as London kicked to the corner and the resulting set allowed Jacob Jones to crash over for the hosts, Oli Leyland converted the effort to reduce the score to 10-6 in Wigan’s favour.

Wigan responded well though and it was Tyler Dupree who added to the scoresheet shortly afterwards. The forward looked like he was going to be held up over the line before managing to wrestle his arm over the whitewash to confirm a third score for the Warriors. Adam Keighran converted his second of the afternoon for 16-6.

The Broncos thought they’d snatched one back in the 22nd minute but Lee Kershaw’s diving effort in the right hand corner was referred to the Video Referee, who adjudged the effort to have been knocked on before the ball was grounded and it remained 16-6 in Wigan’s favour.

The Cherry & Whites added a fourth try just before the half hour as Harvie Hill crashed over for his first try for Wigan after some great build-up play from Farrimond and Dupree. Keighran added the extras once more for 22-6.

An error from Wigan allowed London a great opportunity just before the half-time break, and they took full advantage as a pass from Reiss Butterworth out of the tackle found Lee Kershaw, who grounded the ball this time to cut the deficit. Leyland was wide with the conversion attempt and it was 22-10 to Wigan at the interval.

From the restart, a testing kick saw Iliess Macani bat the ball down for Kennedy to send Jordan Williams over for the first effort of the second half. Oli Leyland added a second conversion of the afternoon and it was 22-16 to the Warriors.

With 46 minutes on the clock, London were penalised for a dangerous throw on Tyler Dupree and Adam Keighran called for the kicking tee, adding the penalty goal successfully to put Wigan out to a two-score lead as Rob Butler was sent to the sin bin for the challenge.

With the man advantage, the Warriors extended their lead on 50 minutes. Jai Field made the initial break downfield to get Wigan into good field position before a six again call was made. Brad O’Neill crashed over for his first try of the season with some good footwork, as Adam Keighran knocked over the conversion to put Wigan 30-16 to the good.

Patrick Mago crashed over for Wigan’s sixth try of the afternoon just moments later, collecting a great inside pass from Farrimond and the forward had the power to crash over under the sticks. Keighran added another conversion for 36-16.

Zach Eckersley became the seventh different scorer on the hour mark as the winger supported Abbas Miski in the middle to receive the ball and race 70m to dive under the uprights, Keighran converted once more as Wigan were out to 42-16 with 20 minutes to play.

Ryan Hampshire then added to the scoreline, feeding into the scrum before getting the ball from Tom Forber to race through a gap and stretch a hand over the goal line. Keighran knocked over another two-point score from the tee to take Wigan to 48-16.

Refusing to back down, London crossed in the 70th minute, as Lee Kershaw registered his second of the afternoon with another acrobatic effort in the right hand corner. The video referee was called into action to check the grounding, which was good and Oli Leyland converted the score as it stood 48-22 to the Warriors going into the final 10 minutes.

Harvie Hill crashed over for his second of the afternoon on 72 minutes but it was Adam Keighran who had the final say, supporting Jai Field who unselfishly passed to his team mate to cross for his first score since joining the Club. Keighran converted the effort to complete the 60-22 victory for the Warriors.

Gallery:

London Broncos: Hakim Miloudi, Lee Kershaw, Robbie Storey, Jarred Bassett, Iliess Macani, Oli Leyland, James Meadows, Rhys Kennedy, Sam Davis, Fenton Rodgers, Will Lovell, Jacob Jones, Marcus Stock.

Interchange: Reiss Butterworth, Rob Butler, Jordan Williams, Alex Walker.

18th Player: Jack Campagnolo

Tries: Jones (15′), Kershaw (38′, 69′), Williams (41′)

Goals: Leyland 3/4

Sin Bin: Rob Butler (47′)

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Abbas Miski, Adam Keighran, Jake Wardle, Zach Eckersley, Ryan Hampshire, Jack Farrimond, Luke Thompson, Brad O’Neill, Tyler Dupree, Willie Isa, Liam Farrell, Patrick Mago.

Interchange: Harvie Hill, Junior Nsemba, Tiaki Chan, Tom Forber.

18th Player: Kaide Ellis.

Tries: Wardle (5′), Miski (9′), Dupree (18′), Hill (28′, 72′), O’Neill (50′), Mago (54′), Eckersley (60′), Hampshire (65′), Keighran (79′)

Goals: Keighran 10/11

Referee: James Vella

Attendance: 4,116

Download the Team Sheet