Tries from Liam Byrne, Liam Marshall and John Bateman, plus the kicking of Zak Hardaker, saw Wigan through to the last eight of this year's competition with victory over Salford at the DW Stadium
Saturday 26 March 2022 00:04, UK
Wigan Warriors became the first team into the quarter-finals of the Betfred Challenge Cup after a 20-0 victory at home to Salford Red Devils on Friday night.
The Warriors led 14-0 at the break with tries from Liam Byrne and Liam Marshall as they scored two tries in the space of three first-half minutes. Two conversions and a penalty from Zak Hardaker saw the hosts strengthen their grip on the contest.
Salford had their chances to post points, but they found it difficult to break down Wigan's strong defence. The Warriors soaked up a lot of pressure before making certain of their place in the quarter-finals with a fine try from John Bateman.
Wigan, 19-time winners of the Cup, took the lead in the 12th minute through Byrne after the Red Devils coughed up possession deep in their own half when Marc Sneyd knocked on. Then, three tackles later, the prop powered his way over from close range.
The Warriors then made it two tries in three minutes following a long delay for the video referee. Cade Cust's kick to the corner was missed by Marshall and Deon Cross, but the ball bounced up in the arms of the Wigan winger to touch down.
Rhys Williams almost got Salford on the scoreboard, but he was bundled into touch by opposite number Marshall. Hardaker then kicked Wigan 14 points clear lead after half-back Cust, who was causing the Red Devils a whole host of problems, was hit high under the posts.
The Red Devils were not helped by losing James Greenwood 13 minutes before the break as he was helped from the field after going down awkwardly from a Tommy Leuluai tackle that was put on report, suffering a a syndesmosis injury which is likely to sideline him for several months.
Salford enjoyed a lot of possession in the final 10 minutes of the half, but Wigan's defence held firm with Tim Lafai and Joe Burgess held inches short.
Paul Rowley's side continued to attack Wigan's line in the second half, but it was the Warriors who scored the first points of the half with a try from nothing.
Cust offloaded the ball in the tackle to Leuluai, who then sent a kick towards Hardaker. The ball bounced favourably into his arms, he then broke a tackle and sent the ball back inside for Bateman to score.
Wigan had their tails up and they almost scored a fourth try with Powell going over after chasing his own kick through, but it was ruled out for a knock-on by the video referee.
Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet
"We had to be at our best defensively to get the win. It is what we have been focusing on off the back of leaking a few too many points. We are aiming to improve defensively and that was a good start.
"We don't want to be known as a team that scores points but has a leaky defence. We don't want to be known as that team, so it was important that we changed that quickly."
Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley
"I thought we got rolled in the middle, quite simply, from start to finish. We made too many errors - I think we made about 15 errors.
"All being said, if we keep hold of the ball instead of losing it 15 times, then it probably ends up 0-0 and we have a shoot-out on goal kicks at the end."
