Wakefield 10-16 Wigan: Warriors deny Trinity

Wakefield 10-16 Wigan: Match Stats

Wakefield tries: Grix (8), Jones-Bishop (38)
Conversions/Penalties: Finn (24) 

Wigan tries: O'Loughlin (5), Escare (34), Marshall (77)
Conversions/Penalties: Escare (5,34) 

Match report

A late try from in-form rookie winger Liam Marshall enabled Wigan to erase the memory of their humiliating 62-0 rout as they ground out a 16-10 victory over tenacious Wakefield at the Beaumont Legal Stadium.

The Warriors were never behind but they led only 12-10 at half-time and needed a ninth try in his seven appearance from Marshall to finally see off Chris Chester's men and complete another Easter clean sweep.

It was certainly a far cry from the embarrassment of their previous visit to Belle Vue, when they were without 10 senior players through injury and illness, but Trinity fans still gave their players a standing ovation at the end.

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Wigan opted against resting skipper Sean O'Loughlin and he opened the scoring after five minutes by barging his way to the line for a try converted by full-back Morgan Escare.

Trinity responded immediately as centre Ashley Gibson, on his first appearance of the season, put in a neat kick for full-back Scott Grix to touch down on his 200th Super League appearance.

Liam Finn was wide with the conversion attempt but levelled the scores with a 24th-minute penalty and the visitors were temporarily reduced to 12 men when Gelling, on his 100th appearance for the club, was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle on Wakefield centre Mason Caton-Brown.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Warriors regained the lead when England stand-off George Williams bounced off a couple of defenders and sent Escare racing through a gap for his fourth try of the season.

Escare's second goal made it 12-6 but Wigan were never able to pull away from their determined opponents, who seized on a handling error on their own 20-metre line to score a second try three minutes from the half-time, Grix sending winger Ben Jones-Bishop over at the corner.

It was a similar story in the second half, with neither side able to stamp their authority on the game which became a scrappy affair.

Wakefield prop Keegan Hirst made a big impact off the bench on his return to the side while industrious youngster Nick Gregson did as much as anyone to keep Wigan in front in an error-strewn second half.

Hooker Sam Powell managed to reach the line on 58 minutes after running the ball on the last tackle but he was turned on to his back while his opposite number Kyle Wood was held just short as he tried to force his way over at the other end.

The best chances came on opposite flanks, with Marshall continuing his impressive debut season with a series of threatening runs while Wakefield's promising wingman Tom Johnstone was a handful for the visitors in both attack and defence.

And it was Marshall who sealed the victory for his side just three minutes from the end when Williams' cut-out pass was deflected by Jones-Bishop into his grateful arms.

Match reaction

Wakefield coach Chris Chester on his side's performance: "I thought we deserved something out of it. They were two evenly-matched sides and to not come away with anything is disappointing.

"The effort was fantastic, we just lacked any real patience down their end. If we had executed better, we may well have got something out of it. It was just the final pass and there were four or five penalties in the second half that really hurt us.

"We had to do it tough, as well, losing a couple of bodies early doors, we ran out of fit blokes at the end but there are lots to be pleased about. I thought we were really physical and defended very well. If we keep playing like that, we will win more than we lose. There were some really good efforts out there, unfortunately we just came up short."

Wigan coach Shaun Wane on avenging a 62-0 defeat in the corresponding game in 2016: "It was a tough one last year in different circumstances and I'm glad to get back here and put things right a little bit, although we were way off to be honest.

"We had 50 per cent completion in the first half and there is no way you can a win game like that but we fixed it up in the second half. This is a hard place to come and they put us under pressure but we showed plenty of toughness to defend our line."