Warrington 16-10 Wigan: Wolves end Warriors' winning start to Super League season
Last Updated: 24/02/18 7:18am
Warrington ended Wigan's 100 per cent start to the Super League season with a 16-10 victory at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Wolves dominated the game and claimed a deserved second victory of the campaign thanks to tries in either half from Tom Lineham and Ryan Atkins.
Wigan, who had won their opening two games of the season, did manage to rally in the final quarter, though, and narrowed the deficit with tries from Liam Marshall and Tony Clubb.
Warrington, who won 18-10 at Widnes last week, were on the front foot from the start and opened the scoring in the third minute through a Bryson Goodwin penalty after a late challenge from Clubb on Tyrone Roberts.
The Wolves continued to pile on the pressure and were 8-0 in front six minutes later thanks to a well-worked try from Lineham.
Some excellent handling saw the hosts work the ball to the left touchline and Lineham was on hand to collect Ben Currie's fine pass and glide over for a score which was converted by Goodwin.
Warrington, with Stefan Ratchford and Daryl Clark constant threats, looked on course to open up a big lead at this stage, but despite plenty of possession, they were unable to extend their advantage in the first half, with Atkins spurning their best chance just before the break when he fumbled the ball after an excellent offload from Ben Murdoch-Masila.
Wigan, who only returned from their two-week trip to Australia earlier this week, rarely threatened in the opening 40 minutes as some solid Warrington defending kept them at bay.
The Wolves thought they had their second try shortly after the restart when Atkins touched down following a break from Roberts, but Murdoch-Masila had knocked on Roberts' kick through and the score was chalked off by the video ref.
A second penalty from man-of-the-match Goodwin in the 48th minute made it 10-0 and Warrington looked to have secured the victory in the 55th minute when Atkins did manage to get on the scoresheet.
A bulldozing run from Murdoch-Masila put Wigan on the back foot and Mitch Brown then did well to get a hand to Kevin Brown's high kick, which enabled Atkins to scoop up the ball and touch down for his 174th Super League try - putting him fifth on the all-time list.
Goodwin added the conversion but that was, surprisingly, the end of the scoring for Warrington as Wigan finally gained a foothold in the game in the final quarter.
Marshall scored their opening try in the 62nd minute when he squeezed past Mitch Brown in the left-hand corner, although Sam Tomkins missed his conversion attempt from out wide.
Wigan then enjoyed plenty of possession as they finished the game the stronger despite their travels down under, but the strong Wolves defence stood firm until Clubb forced his way over in the final play of the game, with Tomkins converting.
The only disappointment for Warrington coach Steve Price was the loss of England second rower Currie, who limped off after 17 minutes, while Kevin Brown was helped from the field 20 minutes from the end with a head injury.
Price said later: "Kevin is pretty good in the sheds at the moment. We'll have to go through the process in the week. We have a lot of trust in our medical team to do what is best for Kev.
"Benny Currie has a bit of a problem with his knee so he'll be sent away for scans. I don't think it's a major concern."
