Injury-hit Warriors claim victory in Battle of Borough
MOMENTS of individual magic from George Williams carried Wigan to victory over local rivals Leigh, but the Warriors lost Joe Burgess, Lewis Tierney and Ryan Sutton to injury in the process.
Twelve years after the two sides last met in the league, the match was fiercely contested, but with the conditions not conducive to top-quality rugby, it was the Warriors’ strong defence – paired with Williams’ wizardry – that won the day.
“I’m very, very happy,” said Wigan coach Shaun Wane after the game. “Nilling a team like Leigh who can play - and after we had a fair bit of disruption is a good result.
“The defence was what we spoke about all week. Even though we beat Salford and Widnes, we conceded too many points for my liking and for the players’ liking.”
Wigan opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes when Williams chipped over the top of the Leigh defence, Tierney raced on to collect and feed Anthony Gelling, who strolled under the sticks unchallenged.
In a game billed as ‘the Battle of the Borough’ it was no surprise to see some ferocious defending from both teams, but when FrankPaul Nuuausala returned the kick at top speed towards ex-Warriors Micky Higham and Harrison Hansen, it was the man nicknamed ‘the Wrecking Ball’ that came off worse, forced to leave the field for a concussion assessment.
Yet while Nuuausala was able to return, there wasn’t such good news for Burgess - he left the field midway through the first half unable to put any pressure on his right ankle.
And when Tierney didn’t emerge for the second period and Sutton was forced off after a clash of heads, the result has come at significant cost for the Warriors. All three were sent to hospital, and Wane does not expect to have them available for Thursday’s trip to Warrington.
Leigh thought they had scored straight after the restart, Ben Crooks pouncing on a loose pass from Williams and racing 30 metres into the corner, only for play to be called back for a knock on.
The home side pressured the Leigh line heavily in the opening stages of the second period, Sutton and Tony Clubb in particular coming close to extending the Wigan lead. In the end it was the dancing feet of Williams that did the damage, skipping through a flailing Centurions defence 10 minutes after the break.
A Morgan Escare penalty with 15 minutes to go sealed the win, but the best play of the night was still to come; Williams again showing great footwork to break through the middle before executing a sensational outside-of-the-boot kick to the corner for makeshift winger Gelling to score.