Wigan 16-16 Huddersfield: Giants hold Warriors at DW Stadium
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 19/03/17 6:29pm
Huddersfield bounced back from their drubbing at Leigh by taking a point from Wigan as they battled to a 16-16 draw at the DW Stadium.
The Giants led 14-10 at the break with both teams crossing for two tries apiece, the first coming from nothing for Huddersfield with Lee Gaskell going over from a metre out after Jermaine McGillvary was hauled down following a 95-yard interception.
Morgan Escare and Darnell McIntosh then traded four-pointers before Tom Davies crossed on his debut to put Wigan within two points. Danny Brough then ensured the lead was four at the interval.
The Warriors scored the only try of the second half through Anthony Gelling but no-one could produce that one piece of magic to clinch the win.
It took Huddersfield three minutes to open the scoring and it came on the back of a threatening Wigan attack.
The Warriors attacked down the left and, when Sean O'Loughlin's long looping ball was picked out of the air by McGillvary, the winger raced downfield only to be thwarted by a great tackle from Gelling.
From the play-the-ball, Gaskell dived over with Brough tagging on the extras for a 6-0 lead.
A shoulder charge from Ben Flower gave Brough the opportunity to extend their lead to eight but he struck his kick against the upright.
Wigan took full advantage of that let-off by levelling matters moments later when Thomas Leuluai fed Joel Tomkins, who sent a sublime ball back inside for Escare to race over. The Frenchman converted to make it 6-6.
Huddersfield were starting to attack down Wigan's left, and Brough and Gaskell combined superbly to send Darnell McIntosh crashing over for their second try, which Brough converted.
Heading into the final 10 minutes of the half, the Warriors reduced the gap to just two points with debutant Davies showing his acrobatic skills to touch down in the corner following another good ball from Tomkins.
Huddersfield ended the half the strongest with Oliver Roberts going close, while Brough made sure they had a four-point advantage going into the break as he slotted over a penalty.
Following the restart, Wigan manage to level matters as Escare fed Gelling, who touched down.
A great run from Gaskell put the Giants in a good attacking position, but all they came away with was another set as Liam Marshall took Brough's kick in-goal for a dropout.
They soon received a penalty for their markers not being square and Brough did not hesitate in kicking for goal.
The Giants were reduced to 12 men in the 66th minute when Kruise Leeming was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Davies.
A strong run from Marshall put Wigan on the front foot, but a poor decision on the last from George Williams saw them blow another chance.
With seven minutes remaining the Warriors received a penalty in front and Escare made no mistake in slotting it over to level the scores at 16-16.
A knock-on from the restart gifted Huddersfield their fifth dropout of the game and, in attempting to seal the game with a try, they blew a golden opportunity with Sam Rapira dropping a pass from Brough when it looked like the stand-off was going to drop a goal.
Leeming seemed to make up for his earlier yellow card as he put in a strong tackle on Escare that saw the fullback spill the ball in his own 20.
That allowed Huddersfield one last chance to win the game, but Brough rushed his drop-goal attempt.
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