The new season may only be a few weeks old but there will be few games that better this evenings between old rivals Warrington and Wigan.
Prior to tonight Wigan had never won a competitive game at the Halliwell Jones Stadium where two 100% records went on the line.
At the end of eighty minutes of high drama and excitement, history was made with the Warriors moving to the top of the embryonic Super League table.
Warrington opened the game well and forced a couple of early drop outs without being fully able to escape the defence.
Somewhat against the run of play, Wigan opened scoring after 8 minutes when Andy Coley passed inside and Amos Roberts, deputising at fullback for the injured Cameron Phelps motored into the Wolves half before taking advantage of a Matt King slip to then hare over in the right corner. Pat Richards couldn't convert but Wigan led 4-0.
Finally the Wolves found a way through after 20 minutes when Michael Monaghan jumped left from dummy half and Richie Myler was on his shoulder for a Lee Briers converted effort.
Warrington grabbed a second try after 28 minutes when swift movement down the right created an overlap and a Chris Bridge dipping pass was well finished by Chris Riley for his seventh try of the season. The Wolves saw a try chalked off by video referee Phil Bentham in the 35th minute when he ruled against Monaghan from a Briers kick but this only delayed the inevitable and David Solomona went over two minutes later with a twisting effort from dummy half. Briers second goal gave the hosts a 16-4 half-time lead much to the satisfaction of most of the sell-out 13,024 crowd.
A mistake from youngster Lee Mossop heaped pressure on the visitors early in the second half but they tackled well to prevent a lively Warrington from scoring.
Video referee Phil Bentham again intervened to deny a Wolves try before 54 minutes in, an ankle injury forced Briers off and Warrington never fully recovered.
Spotting their chance Wigan upped their efforts in speed and intensity and it paid off. First the ever elusive Roberts created something out of nothing to score after 57 minutes; although it needed passing to Mr Bentham to rule on contact between Martin Gleeson and his former team-mate King on the try line.
Richards missed the conversion but more quick play down the right saw 21 year-old Darrell Goulding do no harm to his first team future when he took Roberts pass to ground in the corner.
Richards converted and Warrington were really on the back foot when they conceded consecutive penalties in the 66th minute. The second of these saw Paul Deacon opt for goal and Richards added his second to tie the game.
On their next possession, Wigan looked to be taking things steadily with drives from their forwards before Sam Tomkins provided the unexpected with a chip over the defence and regather. Thomas Leuluai streamed up in support and worked the position brilliantly for Joel Tomkins to go over for the try that put Wigan in front. This allowed Richards to add his third goal via the upright.
The game moved from one excitement to another and within a few minutes Louis Anderson scored a simple try when he ran strongly at the much smaller Leuluai but Chris Bridge saw his conversion attempt graze the wrong side of the posts.
Wigan's keen defence again kept the Wolves at bay with the likes of O'Loughlin, Joel Tomkins and Harrison Hansen well to the fore while Coley and Stuart Fielden came up with some good work alongside Paul Prescott.
A 40-20 from Monaghan gifted Warrington a chance with three minutes remaining but Coley's tackle on Bridge dislodged the ball while the Wolves turned down a kickable penalty attempt to push for the try.
Warrington thought they had produced a match winning play when Solomona drove low for the line. Referee Richard Silverwood referred the decision to Mr Bentham and after an agonising couple of minutes that saw several different views of the incident appear on the SKY big screen it was disallowed for Wigan to run down the clock and claim a thrilling and historic victory.
Warrington 20
Tries: Louis Anderson, David Solomona, Richie Myler, Chris Riley
Goals: Lee Briers 2/3 Chris Bridge 0/1
Wigan 22
Tries: Joel Tomkins, Darrell Goulding, Amos Roberts 2
Goals: Pat Richards 3/5
Half time: 16-4
Referee: Mr R Silverwood
Penalties: 10-9
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