Widnes 26-28 Wigan: Warriors leave it late in rearranged fixture
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 24/02/17 10:38pm
Wigan recovered from a 14-point deficit to beat Widnes 28-26 in a controversially and hastily-rearranged Super League clash at Widnes.
The newly-crowned world club champions were supposed to host the Vikings on Friday only for the game to be called off following Thursday's storms, and then switched to the Select Security Stadium at short notice.
The circumstances surrounding the initial cancellation are to be investigated by the Rugby Football League, but the Warriors put the issue aside with a thrilling late fightback.
A Wigan win seemed unlikely after the hour as Widnes led 26-12 after tries from Lloyd White, Danny Craven, Tom Armstrong and Stefan Marsh.
But the visitors hit back with two tries from Joe Burgess, another from Lewis Tierney and a late winner from Oliver Gildart, his second of the night.
Wigan had taken an early lead when Thomas Leuluai dummied and beat two defenders to crash over.
Widnes responded well and replied with two tries in quick succession during a spell of sustained pressure. Chris Bridge offloaded to send White over for the first before the Vikings carved open the Warriors line for Craven to race in.
Wigan were soon back level as Morgan Escare charged through to collect his own kick in and release Gildart in thrilling fashion with a long pass.
As the first half drew to a close, the Vikings were again beginning to look the stronger side and they were rewarded when a White kick rebounded off the post and Armstrong touched down.
The hosts maintained their dominance after the break as Marsh dived over in the corner from a long White pass.
Rhys Hanbury missed for the first time from the resulting conversion but made amends with two penalty goals.
Wigan's intensity levels had noticeably dropped and errors had crept into their game, but they managed to reduce the arrears on the hour when George Williams picked out Burgess with a cut-out pass.
Burgess, last week's hat-trick hero against Cronulla, continued his impressive return to the club by squeezing the ball down in the corner.
From there Wigan found a renewed energy and got themselves back within six points as Tierney managed to find a gap to score on the right.
Burgess thought he had claimed another when he dived over on the left but referee James Child spotted a forward pass by Gildart.
Widnes failed to heed that warning and Burgess made no mistake when sent clear moments later, before setting up Gildart for the decisive score in the closing moments.
