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Wigan Warriors v Salford Red Devils - First Utility Super League Round 19
Friday 19th June 2015. Kick Off 8:00pm at DW Stadium.

Match Report

Hard to butter this one up. 34 errors between the sides say's it all and for the majority of the first hour, Wigan's attack was beyond belief. No structure. No cohesion. No ideas. It did settle down late on though, particularly because Micky McIlorum returned, and I thought late on that Wigan had a clear fitness edge on Salford.

Salford were not much better to be fair in attack but both sides did defend reasonably well. I thought Salford in particular did a good job out wide in keeping both Dom Manfredi and Joe Burgess quiet and that contributed to Wigan's woes in attack. We like to go out wide but when that avenue was closed, we hit a cul-de-sac, wondering what else to do. In the end we got over the line with some scrappy tries to be fair.

For all that though, I did say as we hit the air on Wish FM at 7pm that tonight was all about the result and I wasn't bothered how we got it. I didn't quite expect this display BUT I don't mind it, if we put in a good show after the enforced cup break when we play Warrington.

The only try of the first half went to Salford in the 9th Minute with Corey Paterson crashing over and Josh Griffin converting for 6-0. That was it. Nothing else to report.

Early second half that lead was extended to 12-0 within two minutes. Taulima Tautai's error was punished by George Griffin under the posts.

This was beginning to remind me of some dark days of the Brian Noble era when Wigan consistently were hard to watch at home but the positive for us this time was that we fought back to win.

In the middle of the game we had a spell of using Matty Smith at hooker with Ryan Hampshire off the bench to play with George Williams in the halves. It didn't really work to be honest but all round it was poor so maybe not the night to judge that idea.

A big key to the comeback was hitting back so soon after it had gone 12-0. Like so often this season, it was Joe Burgess that found a try with him plucking a bomb from Matty Smith out the air to finish. Smith converted for 12-6.

Wigan were still playing poorly when that try was scored but once McIlorum returned for his second spell, things settled down. It was still a flukey finish to equalise. Good work from Dom Manfredi down the right set up territory and swinging left a kick back inside from Budgie allowed Liam Farrell to pounce on a bouncing ball. Smith converted for 12-12.

Fifteen minutes still remained but Wigan now had all the momentum. Not even Smith missing a forty metre penalty goal could halt the charge and it was Dan Sarginson who claimed the crucial try. Another Scrappy one. Grubber went in, Theo Fages didn't deal with it and Sarge pounced for the score. Smith converted for 18-12 before adding a flapper of a drop goal, the 15th of his Wigan career, to complete the comeback victory with five minutes to go.

Team Sheets

-	Wigan	Position	Salford	1
1	Matty Bowen	Full Back	Rangi Chase	6
22	Dom Manfredi	Right Wing	Mason Caton-Brown	18
11	Joel Tomkins	Centre	Josh Griffin	3
4	Dan Sarginson	Centre	Junior Sa'u	4
5	Joe Burgess	Left Wing	Greg Johnson	5
6	George Williams	Stand Off	Theo Fages	14
7	Matty Smith	Scrum Half	Michael Dobson	7
8	Dom Crosby	Prop	Adrian Morley	8
9	Mike McIlorum	Hooker	Logan Tomkins	37
10	Ben Flower	Prop	Scott Taylor	16
14	John Bateman	2nd Row	Corey Paterson	31
12	Liam Farrell	2nd Row	Weller Hauraki	12
13	Sean O'Loughlin	L.Forward	Harrison Hansen	11
-
20	Ryan Hampshire	Substitute	Lama Tasi	10
23	Lee Mossop	Substitute	Jordan Walne	17
24	Taulima Tautai	Substitute	Niall Evalds	19
25	Larne Patrick	Substitute	George Griffin	26
-	Shaun Wane	Coach	Iestyn Harris	-

Score Sheet

Wigan Warriors 19	---	Salford Reds Devils 12
Tries (3): Joe Burgess Liam Farrell Dan Sarginson	---	Tries (2): Corey Paterson George Griffin
Goals: Matty Smith 3/4	---	Goals: Josh Griffin 2/2
Drop Goals: Matty Smith 1	---	---

Scoring and Incident Pattern

9th Minute	Wigan 00	Salford 04	Try: Corey Paterson
9th Minute	Wigan 00	Salford 06	Conversion: Josh Griffin (1/1)
Half Time	Wigan Warriors 00 Salford Red Devils 06
42nd Minute	Wigan 00	Salford 10	Try: George Griffin
42nd Minute	Wigan 00	Salford 12	Conversion: Josh Griffin (2/2)
49th Minute	Wigan 04	Salford 12	Try: Joe Burgess
49th Minute	Wigan 06	Salford 12	Conversion: Matty Smith (1/1)
64th Minute	Wigan 10	Salford 12	Try: Liam Farrell
64th Minute	Wigan 12	Salford 12	Conversion: Matty Smith (2/2)
68th Minute	Wigan 12	Salford 12	Missed Penalty: Matty Smith (2/3)
71st Minute	Wigan 16	Salford 12	Try: Dan Sarginson
71st Minute	Wigan 18	Salford 12	Conversion: Matty Smith (3/4)
75th Minute	Wigan 19	Salford 12	Drop Goal: Matty Smith
Full Time	Wigan Warriors 19 Salford Red Devils 12

Video Highlights

To Follow on Monday

Referee

Joe Cobb

Penalties Conceded

Wigan 4 Salford 6

Match Attendance

13,710

Weather

Dry Night on a newly laid pitch.

League Table at Conclusion of Super League 20 - Round 19

-	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Leeds Rhinos	19	13	1	5	582	405	+177	27
2	St Helens	19	13	0	6	473	330	+143	26
3	Wigan Warriors	19	12	1	6	489	350	+139	25
4	Huddersfield Giants	19	10	2	7	424	309	+115	22
5	Castleford Tigers	19	11	0	8	431	400	+31	22
6	Catalan Dragons	19	9	2	8	491	477	+14	20
7	Warrington Wolves	19	9	0	10	437	404	+33	18
8	Hull FC	18	8	0	10	350	356	-6	16
Top 8 Qualify for "Super 8s" after Round 23 / Top 4 Qualify for Play Offs
9	Hull Kingston Rovers	18	8	0	10	444	481	-37	16
10	Widnes Vikings	19	7	1	11	438	469	-31	15
11	Salford Red Devils	18	6	1	11	344	460	-110	13
12	Wakefield Wildcats	18	2	0	16	288	750	-462	4

Round 19 Results

Thu 18 June Castleford Tigers 25 St Helens 24 6,086

Fri 19 June Hull Kingston Rovers 36 Warrington Wolves 10 7,455

Fri 19 June Wigan Warriors 19 Salford Red Devils 12 13,710

Sat 20 June Catalan Dragons 32 Wakefield Wildcats 12 7,843

Sun 21 June Leeds Rhinos 32 Hull FC 20 16,203

Sun 21 June Widnes Vikings 22 Huddersfield Giants 30 5,420