That's Magic For Wigan

May 17th 2014, a day to remember for the Cherry and White faithful as their youthful charges performed a magic trick on league leaders Leeds to leave the Rhinos stunning winning run just an illusion.

After a humbling at Headingley a fortnight ago, a wounded Wigan arrived at the Magic Weekend with a lineup that read like a university register with only five players above the age of 23 while Leeds boasted a strong squad in a quest to repeat their Headingley heroics of two weeks previous.

The early stages saw both sides exchange sets with no serious end product but in the ninth minute, Leeds broke the equilibrium as they forced a goal-line dropout after heavy pressure and Wigan held firm despite the Rhinos strong attacking play towards the line.

Wigan's superb defensive work turned to attack and a superb transformation saw Sarginson send Burgess dashing down the wing into a good position before the final tackle resulted a high kick to the corner being majestically collected by Gelling who crossed for the opening try as the Warriors faithful roared but to their surprise, Ben Thaler asked for a review and the roar returned as the try was eventually given. Matty Smith swept over the conversion and Wigan led 6-0.

Leeds blew their first chance of response with a loose carry which gave Wigan good field position which increased when Ablett conceded a penalty with Smith electing to to kick for goal which he did superbly for an 8-0 lead.

The pressure seemed to be getting to Leeds as another mistake arrived after a quick play across the middle resulted in the ball finding touch rather than a Blue and Yellow jersey but within minutes, the frustration boiled over as McIlorum went high on Peacock and all hell broke loose with Ben Thaler brandishing three yellow cards after the melee with Warriors duo McIlorum and Bateman sinbinned alongside Rhinos prop Bailey leaving the sides 11 v 12 after 25 minutes.

Wigan's resolve would be severely tested in the next ten minutes with Leeds forcing a goal-line dropout before using the advantage to cross for a try through Hall on the wing but Sinfield's missed conversion meant Wigan had a four point lead at 8-4.

Another scuffle ensued after Hall had been illegally stopped by Crosby with the young Warrior put on report by Ben Thaler, the sides were back to their full compliment a minute later and Wigan extended their lead in style as Green zipped through the Rhinos defence before crossing for a superb try that sent the Warriors faithful wild in the stands, Smith's conversion found the wrong side of the post but Wigan led 12-4 into the break after an amazing first half by the young charges.

Just 40 minutes away from a famous victory and with a Mexican wave travelling around the stadium, Wigan began the first half buoyant by successfully keeping the frustrated Rhinos at bay so much so that they lulled Leeds into a false sense of security with disastrous consequences in the 53rd minute.

The Rhinos defence readied for a final tackle kick from Green only for the halfback to attack the line and leave McIlorum in a race against Hardaker with the Loose Forward crossing for a try under the sticks and to the euphoric joy of the Cherry and White crowd who burst into a chorus of '"that's why we're champions" and with Smith converting successfully for a 18-4 lead, the belief of victory rose rapidly in the voices of the Warriors fans.

Joy turned to despair after a quick Leeds move allowed Ablett to breach the Wigan defence and cross for a try with Sinfield converting to narrow the deficit to 18-10 which seemed to unnerve Wigan with a mistake from Bowen gifting possession to Leeds who went on to force a dropout before spraying the ball out wide to Hall who crossed for his second try in the corner but Sinfield's miss with the boot left the gap achingly close at 18-14.

Fifteen minutes for the young Warriors to hold on but with a blow as Green left the field in a bad way, Leeds had a superb chance to exploit Green's exit when Hall intercepted but a knock on saw Wigan regain possession before the next set saw McGuire race clear before being denied by a superb chase and tackle from Williams with the hooker seemingly kicked in chest in the aftermath.  77 minutes on the clock and the win was in sight for Wigan but akin to last years fierce battle Leeds scored after a high kick found Moon who seemed to ground the ball with Thaler asking for a review.

The stadium fell silent as the crowd viewed the replay via the big screens, view after view and the Leeds fans began to cheer though Wigan responded with shouts of "knock-on!"and as I write, head in hands the belief from 2013 is still there, The screen displayed "Decision Time and No Try" to a raucous roar from the Wigan fans.

Wigan played a full set with Smith kicking into touch on the last tackle, Leeds had just 19 seconds to score and a kick and chase was a must, the play went backwards before Hardaker chip kicked only to see Crosby collect before being tackled as the hooter sounded to what can only be described as an eruption of joy from the Wigan fans in celebration of a stunning victory from a young side who before kick off were outsiders but triumphed in style.

Last week's humbling of Hull at the KC ranked as Wigan's best win of 2014 but this went one better as Wane labelled the victory as his best ever as a coach and as fan who left the Etihad with no voice and a gleaming smile on Saturday, I would certainly agree as I joined fellow Wigan fans to celebrate proudly and loudly in the stadium concourses. A correct result and a close prediction of 24-22 with Salford up next on Thursday.