Wigan Warriors 28-12 Salford Red Devils: Liam Marshall at the double for hosts
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 29/06/19 12:12am
Liam Marshall's double helped resurgent Wigan Warriors leapfrog Salford Red Devils into the Super League play-off places with a 28-12 win.
The winger scored two tries for the Warriors, who clearly enjoyed playing at home for the first time in almost two months on their way to a fourth-straight win.
Stand-off George Williams produced another eye-catching display in his 150th game for the Warriors, but Adrian Lam's side lost captain Sean O'Loughlin to injury after only two minutes.
Salford gave a debut to Tui Lolohea who arrived from Leeds as part of the deal which saw Robert Lui move in the opposite direction, but his combination with Jackson Hastings, a reported target for Wigan, will clearly take time to develop.
Ian Watson's men arrived in Wigan full of confidence on the back of successive wins over Castleford and Wakefield and they took a second-minute lead with a Krisnan Inu penalty.
However, they were forced to work hard to hang onto it as Wigan twice went close to scoring through Sam Powell and Marshall.
Chris Hankinson drew Warriors level with a 20th-minute penalty and it was not long before they were ahead. Tommy Leuluai linked with Hankinson on the right edge to get Marshall in at the corner for a try that Hankinson was unable to convert.
Wigan continued to dominate, scoring a second try moments later when Williams' kick to the Salford in-goal area looked to be going dead but Joe Greenwood's chase was rewarded, grounding the ball for a try which Zak Hardaker failed to convert.
Having looked largely ineffective with ball in hand, Salford claimed an unlikely lifeline with only seconds of the half remaining.
A high kick saw Hardaker and Marshall collide as they looked to claim the ball, gifting Salford a scrum in a dangerous position 10 metres from the Wigan try-line. The ball was quickly moved to the left edge and winger Derrell Olpherts was able to score in the corner, though Inu pulled his conversion attempt.
There was a lightning start to the second half from Wigan, who scored twice within 10 minutes of the restart. Jarrod Sammut shot through a gap and with the Salford defence struggling to get back, he kicked ahead for Hardaker to chase down the ball and score under the posts. Hankinson added the goal.
Wigan scored their fourth try when Marshall showed tremendous strength to withstand several attempted tackles and score from close range and Hankinson's goal made it 22-6.
Both sides were reduced to 12 men with 10 minutes remaining after Gil Dudson of Salford and Wigan's Romain Navarrete clashed off the ball and were shown yellow cards by referee Chris Kendall.
Salford scored their second try through Kris Welham, which Inu converted with three minutes remaining, but it was Wigan who completed the scoring seconds before the final hooter sounded, Oliver Partington going in from close range for a try which Hankinson converted.
