Warrington’s nine-match winning streak came crashing to an end when they met Wigan at St James Park today.
A see-sawing first half saw dominance switch between the two on-form sides.
Wary of what a second v third tie at Magic Weekend could produce, Wigan took the first opportunity to open the scoring by kicking a penalty.
But it was Warrington who crossed the try-line first, with Harvey Livett going over when the ball was moved across the field after Ryan Atkins was stopped in inches short in the opposite corner.
Those four points were all Warrington showed for 20 minutes of early dominance though. When the pendulum swung Wigan’s way, the Cherry and Whites clocked back-to-back tries via their two Sams, Powell and Tomkins. Tomkins converted both for a 14-10 lead.
Widnes had another chance to dominate however, and in the run-in to the break, and Stefan Ratchford snaked an arm through three Wigan defenders to ground a Kevin Brown.
Bryson Goodwin’s conversion saw the Wire heading to half time just four points behind at 14-10. But the last act of the half belonged to Tomkins, who kicked a penalty on the stroke of half time, after a Warrington high tackle, to take the gap back top six points.
But after the break, the match belonged to Wigan - by a 22-0 margin.
Warrington had their chances near the Warriors’ line, but couldn’t get the ball over the line and onto the ground.
Wigan, on the other hand racked up four tries and two penalties - and played some superb defence whenever the Wolves broke or tried to build pressure.
The winning margin could have been higher if Tomkins had brought his kicking boots for the conversions.
However, John Bateman, George Williams, Liam Marshall and Tom Davies all crossed the line for 16 points. The last try was converted by Tomkins, alongside his two second-half penalties, for a 38-10 final score.