Kris Radlinski had already put in two try-saving plays to deny Chev Walker before he scored the opening try in the sixth minute. Dennis Moran created the space for the full back by selling Keith Senior a dummy after Leeds had been put on the back-foot by a penalty against Andrew Dunemann for a high tackle.

Danny Tickle landed the conversion and would have stretched Wigan's but for a last-ditch tackle from Leeds full back Richard Mathers.

Barrie McDermott and Jerry Seu Seu were both given ten-minutes to cool down after a scrap in back play and from the bench saw Keith Senior punish Tickle for a dropped ball. The big GB centre accepted a long pass from Dunemann to romp in with little opposition.

Sinfield's conversion brought the visitors level before Radlinski scored his second, once again put in to the space by Moran.

But again Leeds were quick to respond. Rob Burrows scooted through gap left by a Wigan defender racing for the interception and the tiny half-back fed the ball to Willie Poching who, the video referee ruled, had scored despite the desperate efforts of Dallas and Newton to stop him grounding the ball.

Sinfield’s conversion levelled the scores and Senior’s second try, on the half-hour, put Leeds ahead for the first time thanks to another Wigan handling error, Dennis Moran losing possession. Sinfield pulled the conversion wide and Leeds took the 12-16 lead into the break.

Wigan narrowed the lead to just two-points when Tickle slotted over a 57th minute penalty for a high tackle. But Wigan's decision to take the two points rather than the opportunity to attack their opponents€™ line disappointed the majority of the 16,022 crowd. But it was the resulting restart that was the turning point.

A combination of Sinfield's clever kick off and Wigan's poor defence saw the ball find touch and Leeds made the most of their ideal attacking position with Liam Botham heading over for only his second try for the club.

Sinfield added the conversion to make it 22-14 and by the time Marcus Bai scored out wide from an acrobatic back pass from Poching Wigan were broken and the champions romped away with further scores from Lauitiiti and Calderwood.

Rob Burrow added the final conversion after taking over from Sinfield. Denis Betts conceded the decision to opt for goal after the 57th-minute penalty may have been a mistake, saying: "It was my call but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

"I felt we had been under a lot of pressure and maybe the goal would have given us a bit of a break. "I had no idea they weren't going to catch the ball from the kick-off.

"The scoreline was pretty disappointing. We dropped too much ball in the second half and Leeds got on a bit of a roll. We stopped playing. "

Leeds boss Tony Smith was clearly delighted. "I thought we were very, very good but we had to be," he said.

"They made it very difficult for in the first half. I thought they were tenacious and took some breaking down.

"We came up with two blemishes in the first half which were punished but, other aside from that, I thought we were pretty good defensively."

The result leaves Wigan trailing eight points behind the table toppers who have now opened up a four point gap at the top of the Engage Super League. 

Ref: Karl Kirkpatrick (Warrington)
Penalty Count: 4-3
Drop Outs: 0-1
Attendance: 16,022
Weather: Heavy rain, Cold.

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