Ken Sio scored two tries as Hull KR rallied to beat Wigan 22-20 in Super League
Last Updated: 01/03/15 8:15pm
Hull KR clinched their first Super League win of the season after coming back from 20-6 down to beat Wigan 22-20 at the KC Lightstream Stadium.
A Ken Sio try double helped Rovers avoid a third successive defeat, while Mitch Allgood and Kieran Dixon also crossed for the home side.
Hull KR conceded three tries in a five-minute spell either side of half-time, but recovered to inflict Wigan's first league defeat of the season.
England prop Lee Mossop marked the start of his second spell with Wigan following his return from Australia with one of his side's four tries, but the Warriors were clearly suffering from a hangover from their World Club Series defeat by Brisbane.
Wigan were without England centre Dan Sarginson, who pulled out with a dead leg, and had 21-year-old Connor Farrell starting his first match for the club, lining up in the second row alongside older brother Liam.
Hull KR, who gave French hooker John Boudebza his full debut, dominated for long periods of the first half, with captain Terry Campese prompting and probing to great effect, but they ruined much of their promising build-up play with handling errors.
Wigan were also full of errors and It took a blunder by winger Joe Burgess to break the deadlock on 23 minutes.
The Sydney-bound Burgess clearly felt a kick from his former Wigan team-mate Darrell Goulding was going to roll dead but the ball slowed up, allowing winger Sio to touch down for Rovers.
Josh Mantellato maintained his 100 per cent record with the boot by kicking his 12th goal from as many attempts to put his side into a 6-0 lead.
The Robins deserved that lead but Wigan turned the game on its head with three tries in the last 13 minutes of the first half.
Burgess touched down in the corner for the 11th time in his last 12 matches, and Mossop took a more direct route through the middle to mark his return.
Matty Smith's first goal made it 10-6 and Wigan crucially scored again just nine seconds before the break when England winger Josh Charnley scooped up a bouncing ball and went round Mantellato.
And Wigan scored their fourth try in the first minute of the second half, with stand-off George Williams finishing off a break by Burgess.
Smith's second goal made it 20-6 but then Hull KR came back into the game.
Scrum-half Albert Kelly got to the line before losing the ball, but Sio made no mistake on 51 minutes as he took Goulding's pass to collect his second try.
Mantellato was off target for the first time in Super League to leave his side trailing by 10 points but the try spurred Rovers into producing their best spell of the game and they cut the deficit to just four six minutes later.
Williams got back to make a terrific tackle and prevent Sio completing his hat-trick, but the run set up the position for prop Allgood to crash over for his side's third try and Mantellato kicked his third goal.
Clever kicks from Campese, watched by his uncle David Campese, and Kelly forced Wigan to concede two goal-line drop-outs, and the pressure told on 72 minutes when substitute Dixon forced his way over for his first try for the club with only his second touch of the ball.
That levelled the scores and Mantellato won it with his third conversion.
Hull KR move up to ninth position in the table, one point below seventh-placed Wigan.