Warriors Scrape Past Hull FC

A tight finish at the KC Stadium saw Wigan make it six wins in a row against a Hull FC side that pushed them all the way.

On the eve of the game, winger Pat Richards announced he would return to Wests Tigers in the NRL for 2014 after an amazing eight seasons at Wigan who welcomed back McIlorum, Green and Farrell to the the thirteen.

A tense opening ten minutes, Wigan had the first real chance as Green found space and ran through the gap, from the next play Wigan forced a dropout and from that set Sam Tomkins passed near the line to put Thornley in for the game's opening try which was successfully converted by Richards for 0-6.

Wigan added to their lead within two minutes as a Richards broke down the left and kicked for Tomkins to dive on and seal a nice try and Richards again converted for a 0-12 lead. Hull responded well and in the 22nd minute Lineham squeezed through a gap to goover for the try but a tricky conversion attempt saw Westerman miss to put the score at 4-12.


Wigan were tested by a revitalised Hull and the pressure paid off just before the interval as Crooks was tackled near the line but was able to stretch his arm over the line for the score and Westerman's successful conversion meant it was 10-12 at the break.

Wigan edged further ahead six minutes into the second half as a Hull conceded a penalty which gave Wigan good field position and they took full advantage as a set of quick hands from left to right saw Goulding slip a pass to Charnley who went in for the try out wide and another successful conversion from Richards put Wigan 10-18 ahead.

Just like in the first period it was Wigan who hit a quick double as after Charnley's score, Hughes broke down the middle to supply a super pass for Tomkins who sealed his second try of the night and his 20th for the season and Richards again converted well as Wigan now led 10-24.

Hull broke back again in the 56th minute as Crooks tipped the ball to Lineham and the winger swept down the left side for his second and Hull's third score of the night but Westerman's miss from the conversion left them still trailing by ten at 14-24.

The gap decreased as midway through the half, Hull were in again as Lineham completed his hat-trick with a touchdown in the corner and the home fans had more to cheer as Westerman sent over the successful conversion to close back to a four point deficit at 20-24.

Wigan made it a six point lead as Richards sent over a penalty goal from 32 metres out to make it 20-26 with 12 minutes to go, He hit a second successful penalty minutes later to give Wigan a eight point lead meaning Hull had to score at least twice more to win with eight minutes left on the clock.

In the final seconds, they had a great chance to pull the points gap down but knocked on with the try line in sight and Wigan held on for a hard fought win and extended their lead at the top of the Super League table to three points over Huddersfield.