Thornley Treble As Warriors Triumph

After the last-gasp defeat at Castleford, Wigan looked to bounce back as they played host to Hull KR who came to the DW on Friday night still looking for their first win of 2014.

Wigan had a late change as Sean O'Loughlin failed a fitness test meaning Ben Flower played at loose forward while Logan Tomkins deputised at hooker as Michael McIlorum began his three game suspension while Rovers handed a debut to Ade Gardner who was was on loan from St Helens,

Wigan got off to a brilliant start as Green picked out Thornley and the Centre went over for a try in the corner but the decision was referred to the video referee who gave the try after an extensive review, Smith missed a tough conversion and Wigan led 4-0.

The lead could have increased from the next set as Green turned creator again and kicked toward Burgess on the wing but a fumble when clear from the winger saw him knock on and the chance went but Wigan did go further in front and did so in style as Matty Bowen collected a kick from KR's Keating on the final tackle and raced the length of the field roared on by an the Wigan fans who celebrated as he crossed for a first try at the DW and his second in successive games. Smith missed another conversion and Wigan led 8-0 rather than what could have been 12-0.

Hull responded and had a good chance when Keating dummied twice only to fall as he broke through the Wigan line but he made up for it when he found Langley who went over for KR's first try and Burns converted to reduce the gap to two at 8-6.

Hull then went in front as Eden found Salter and he went through the Wigan defence to score to the joy of the travelling fans who saw Burns miss the conversion but meant they had a 8-10 lead. The lead increased in the 26th minute as KR got a penalty in a good position and used the advantage as Welham went over for his sides third score and Burns made it 2/3 with the boot for a lead at 8-16.

Wigan replied four minutes later as the combination of Green and Thornley worked to perfection again as the former bagged his second try with a zig-zagging run and Smith kicked the conversion to an ironic cheer from the fans to put the score at 14-16.

Wigan's hopes of regaining the lead suffered a blow five minutes befroe halftime as Welham picked out Cockayne who breezed through the Wigan defence for the try and despite Burns' missed conversion it was 14-20 to the Rovers. Wigan thought they had scored in the final secnds ofthe half as Charnley collected a pass on the wing and went over but after a review, the try was denied for obstruction in the middle of the line and Wigan trailed by a converted try at the halfway point.

The hosts were soon level as Burgess combined with Farrell to send the forward over for a well worked try and Smith converted the try to level the match at 20 all. A succession of penalties for both sides disrupted the flow of the game with the majority coming via offside infractions.

Wigan went in front just after the hour mark as they were awarded a penalty and used the advantage to good effect as Smith found Flower who went over for the try to the joy of the home crowd who had more reason to celebrate when Smith successfully converted for a 26-20 lead.

Wigan increased their lead as they were awarded a penalty just metres from the try line and Smith elected to kick and did so successfully to put Wigan 28-20 up and mean Hull KR would need to score twice in order to end their winless run. The next set saw Wigan force a dropout and after a short kick return, Smith found Thornley and the Wigan number four completed his hat-trick and Smith took his tally to ten points to make it 34-20 and Wigan held on to record their second win of the season.