Not the greatest spectacle for rugby league but a win for Wigan leaves them just two points off the play-offs. London, however, are left rooted at the foot of the table with just six points. Here’s what happened.ย
MATCH DETAILS
An indifferent game and not one for the history books, Wigan managed to hand London their seventh defeat in a row.
Kieran Dixon opened the scoring with a penalty after Wigan were penalised for holding down at a play of the ball.
Wigan then started to take control of the game, with three efforts going close to scoring. Jake Shorrocks was first to cross over the whitewash for the Warriors to crack the Broncos defence.
The lead was short lived as Jordan Abdull saw a gap in the Wigan defence for Jay Pitts to cross with a dubious try over having control of the ball. This gave them an 8-6 lead going into half time.
Captain Sean O’Loughlin had a game to forget with a couple of handling errors and penalties given away. Is it time that he called it a day?
After an O’Loughline mistake, London got the scrum but the pass from the base was dropped immediately by Elliot Kear, allowing Chris Hankinson to score from close range.
Morgan Escare was the final scorer for the evening, after catching a George Williams kick wide on the wing and running in under the sticks to score.
Wigan seemed to struggle for last tackle options all day long, with the half-back pairing of Willams and Shorrocks not really bonding quite yet.
London will be disappointed with some of the efforts too as they just weren’t clinical enough to get those vital four pointers, despite building some pressure towards the end of the game.
The Warriors were relieved when the final hooter went but as coach Adrian Lam said in his post-match interview, it’s the points that matter right now, not the performances.
FOUR POINTERS
Wigan far from complete
They might be starting to pick up some points but the Warriors look far from the champion side that they should be. Injuries are affecting all teams this year but Wigan have enough star power in their 17 to be playing better than they currently are.
London have been unlucky
In the first half, London looked the closer to scoring as well as some superb defence. It just seems to be the lack of experience at Super League level that isn’t letting them give a full eighty-minute performance.
Welcome back Escare
When Sam Tomkins announced he was leaving the Warriors last season, Escare was sure to get the number one shirt. However, the arrival of Zak Hardaker has meant his game time has been limited this season. Now covering on the wing with Tom Davies, Joe Burgess and Dom Manfredi all injured, Escare needs to grab this chance whilst he can.
Recruitment could be an Broncos issue
Or lack of. In the close season, coach Danny Ward decided to keep the bulk of his promted side and only acquired a couple of new faces. However, with such a small squad and halfway through the season with just six point, could this lack of recruitment come back to bite them at the end of the season?
THE RESULT
Wigan 18
Tries: Jake Shorrocks, Hankinson, Escare
Goals: Hardaker 3
Drop Goals: n/a
London 8
Tries: Pitts
Goals: Dixon 2
Drop Goals: n/a
SQUADS
Wigan: Hardaker, Marshall, Hankinson, Gildart, Escare, Williams, Jake Shorrocks, Flower, Leuluai, Bullock, Isa, Greenwood, Smithies.
Interchanges: O’Loughlin, Powell, Tautai, Navarrete.
London: Walker, Dixon, Morgan, Kear, Williams, Abdull, Smith, Battye, Cunningham, Butler, Pitts, Lovell, Yates.
Interchanges:Richards, Hindmarsh, Adebiyi, Pelissier.
