Warriors tame Wildcats

Wigan winger Karl Pryce scored another hat-trick of tries as the Warriors thrashed Wakefield 48-6 to move four points clear of Warrington at the top of the Engage Super League.

It was Pryce's third hat-trick of the season as Michael Maguire's side made it five Super League wins on the bounce.

Pat Richards also notched two tries and six goals in the win, with further touchdowns from Sean O'Loughlin, Liam Farrell, Amos Roberts and Joel Tomkins, while Damian Blanch produced the Wildcats' only reply.

Pryce's try-haul, which took his try tally to 11 in just seven matches, fully justified his selection ahead of leading scorer Darrell Goulding, who was dropped to make way for the return of Australian Roberts.

In difficult, wet conditions, Pryce put the Warriors ahead in just the second minute before skipper O'Loughlin - one of three Wigan players to start after helping England to a 60-6 win over France less than 24 hours earlier - added a second on seven minutes, created by England team-mate Joel Tomkins.

But the captain then suffered the downside of the game just two minutes later as he had to go off with a leg injury.

Joel Tomkins then combined with full-back Richards to get substitute Farrell over on 16 minutes as Wigan stormed into a 16-0 lead.

Momentum halted

But the Warriors' momentum was temporarily halted by the sin-binning of second rower Phil Bailey after an accumulation of offences by the visitors, who conceded eight penalties in the first quarter.

While the scoreline was disproportionate to the play as Wakefield enjoyed just as much possession and territorial advantage, the hosts were unable to find the finishing touches.

Both Glenn Morrison, playing out of position at stand-off, and prop Paul King were brought down just short of the line while Michael Korkidas got over it without being able to ground the ball.

In addition, winger Luke George had a try disallowed for a forward pass by Paul Cooke.

In contrast, Wigan had no problem in making the most of their chances and Pryce finished off the best move of the match to take George Carmont's pass and claim his second try six minutes before the break.

The former Bradford threequarter touched down Richards' accurate kick to the corner to complete his hat-trick six minutes into the second half.

While Wakefield pulled a try back through winger Blanch on 52 minutes, with Cooke converting, Richards then went over for Wigan's sixth try from a Bailey offload.

Hope ended

And any hope of a home revival was then ended by the sin-binning of Wildcats forward Dale Ferguson for persistent infringements.

Roberts touched down a kick from Sam Tomkins before Richards grabbed his second try, taking his tally for the season to 18, and Sam Tomkins completed the rout with his side's ninth try, to which Richards added his sixth goal.

Wakefield, who lost 54-14 to the Warriors at the DW Stadium in April, have now won just one of their last eight league matches to remain outside the top eight, with their play-off hopes diminishing by the week.

Wigan, on the other hand, show no sign of a let-up as they warmed up in perfect style for next Sunday's derby with third-placed St Helens.