St Helens 2 Wigan 36 - Sunday 26th July 1998 Venue: Vetch Field, Swansea City FC Competition: JJB Sports Super League 3 - Round 14 (Roadshow Round) Kick Off: 6:45pm
WiganlBacks:l
1. Kris Radlinski, 5. Mark Bell, 4. Gary Connolly, 3. Danny Moore, 2.
Jason Robinson, 6. Henry Paul, 7. Tony Smith
WiganlForwards:l
16. Terry O'Connor, 9. Robbie McCormack, 10. Tony Mestrov, 11. Denis Betts,
12. Simon Haughton, 13. Andy Farrell
WiganlInterchanges:l
14. Mick Cassidy, 15. Jon Clarke, 20. Lee Gilmour, 25. Paul
Johnson
WiganlTries:l
Kris Radlinski 2, Gary Connolly, Andy Farrell, Tony Smith 2
WiganlGoals:l
Andy Farrell 6
StlHelenslBacks:l
1. Paul Atcheson, 14. Chris Smith, 21. Damien Smith, 4. Paul Newlove, 5.
Anthony Sullivan, 3. Sean Long, 7. Bobbie Goulding
StlHelenslForwards:l
8. Apollo Perelini, 9. Keiron Cunningham, 23. Brett Goldspink, 11. Chris Joynt,
13. Paul Sculthorpe, 20. Tommy Martyn
StlHelenslInterchanges:l
6. Karle Hammond, 10. Ian Pickavance, 12. Paul Davidson, 25.
Paul Anderson
Wigan were at their imperious best in front of a bumper
crowd in Swansea to bring down Super League's Roadshow series in style. It
was unfortunate that the biggest crowd of the six-match pioneering
programme should witness the most one-sided game as St Helens proved no
match for a Wigan side that simply oozed power and class.
An attendance of 8,572 at the Vetch Field took the number of Roadshow fans
to 30,387 and ensured a success of the bold venture. While the turn-out,
in driving rain, will have encouraged the hopes of the Swansea consortium
vying with Cardiff and Gateshead for a Super League franchise, the Welsh
public learned little new about the state of the game. Wigan, the dominant
force of the late 1980s and early 90s, are back to their peerless best,
able to combine brilliant attacking skills with magnificent defence to
open up a two-point lead at the top. Saints were simply outclassed and a
sixth straight defeat at the hands of the old enemy will only add to the
pressure on coach Shaun McRae, who is due to have talks about his future
at Knowsley Road on Tuesday.
Inevitably, captain Andy Farrell was at the heart of everything good from
the Wigan side, organising and probing intelligently and place kicking
with typical accuracy. His tally of 16 points took him through the 400
barrier in a record 36-match scoring run stretching back to last June. A
double strike by another Great Britain ace, full-back Kris Radlinski, put
Wigan in firm control by half-time. The 22-year-old full-back twice
pounced onto slide-rule kicks on the greasy turf to grab tries that put
his side 10-2 ahead after 21 minutes. Bobbie Goulding, returning to the St
Helens side after injury, pulled two points back with an 11th-minute
penalty.
But when former Saints centre Gary Connolly sidestepped past Karle Hammond
for a third try after half an hour and Farrell kicked his third goal,
Wigan were coasting at 18-2. The passions normally associated with the
biggest derby in British rugby league were evident from the second minute
when the usually cool Farrell took exception to a high challenge from
Damien Smith and lashed out with a right hook. And Simon Haughton (Wigan)
and Keiron Cunningham (St Helens) were sent to the sin-bin after a
flare-up just before the break. Saints lost full-back Paul Atcheson at
half-time and their play went from bad to worse as Wigan made light of the
difficult handling conditions to run in three further tries. Farrell ran
onto a pass from lively scrum-half Tony Smith to touch down and the former
player then pounced twice in five minutes to take his Super League try
tally for the season to nine and pile on the misery for their arch-rivals.
Wigan:- Kris Radlinski, Jason Robinson, Danny
Moore, Gary Connolly, Mark Bell, Henry Paul, Tony Smith, Terry O'Connor,
Robbie McCormack, Tony Mestrov, Denis Betts, Simon Haughton, Andy
Farrell(Capt) Subs:- Mick Cassidy, Paul Johnson, Lee Gilmour, John Clarke
Tries: Radlinski (4,21), Connolly (28), Farrell (54), Smith (60,66) Goals: Farrell 6 Simon Haughton - sin binned for fighting (35 Mins)
St Helens:- Paul Atcheson, Chris Smith, Damien
Smith, Paul Newlove, Anthony Sullivan, Sean Long, Bobbie Goulding, Apollo
Perelini, Keiron Cunningham, Brett Goldspink, Chris Joynt, Paul
Sculthorpe, Tommy Martyn Subs:- Karle Hammond, Ian Pickavance, Paul Davidson, Paul Anderson.
Goals: Goulding 1 Keiron Cunningham - sin binned for fighting (35 Mins)
Other
Information
Attendance: 8,572 (est) Referee: Stuart Cummings Pitch: Lush and soggy. Weather: Heavy Rain Man of the match: Wigan: Kris Radlinski
If you appreciate the efforts made on this site and would like to see them continue, donations are welcome to cover the increased running costs of this website. Cheers.
Copyright - Cherryandwhite.co.uk 2002-2014
Whilst every effort is made to ensure that news stories are correct, we cannot be held responsible for errors. Some articles and pictures on this website have been recovered from various sources for archive purposes. If any material on this website is subject to copyright or incorrect in any way please contact us
webmaster@cherryandwhite.co.uk
so we can remove it or negotiate copyright permission. RLFANS.COM, the owners of this website, the RLSA (Rugby League Supporters Association) or the 100% League Network are not responsible for the content of its sub-sites, please email the author of this sub-site if you feel you find an article offensive or of a choice nature that you disagree with.
Email RLFANS.COM's owners admins@rlfans.com
if further assistance is required.