2021 Super League Round Four Review

After some clubs regained home advantage in the previous round, Super League Round Four saw Wigan Warriors return home to the DW Stadium in my latest virtual attendance.

Warriors Topple Tigers

Thursday night saw Wigan Warriors extend their perfect start with a 22-12 win over Castleford Tigers. Cas opened the scoring with a Derrell Olpherts try which Paul McShane converted for 6-0. Wigan hit back with a self-converted effort from Zak Hardaker for 6 all before McShane restored the Tigers lead with a penalty for 8-6.

Wigan went into the interval ahead with Bevan French crossing and Hardaker converting for 12-8 but Cas hit back early in the second half with Olpherts scoring his second try to level at 12 all. French scored his second try for 16-12 before Sam Powell crossed late on with Hardaker converting for a third time to wrap up a 22-12 win. 

Saints Stay Top After Halting Hudds

St Helens extended their stay at the top with an 18-10 win over Huddersfield Giants. Saints struck first with Theo Fages crossing inside four minutes with Lachlan Coote converting for 6-0. A close first half saw just one more score with four minutes left before the interval with Mark Percival touching down and Coote kicking for 12-0.

Hudds cut the gap within five minutes of the restart with Chris McQueen touching down for 12-4 and after the hour mark, Saints moved to 18-4 ahead with a Jonny Lomax effort converted by Coote. Huddersfield had the last say on the score-line as Jermaine McGillvary crossed with Aidan Sezer kicking for an 18-10 final score. 

Rampant Robins Rout Rhinos

Friday night began with Hull Kingston Rovers securing consecutive wins as they eased to a 26-6 win over Leeds Rhinos at Hull College Craven Park. The Robins raced into a 16-0 lead inside 25 minutes with ex-Rhinos duo Ryan Hall and Matt Parcell crossing ahead of a try from Kane Linnett with Jordan Abdull converting twice. 

Leeds hit back with Brad Dwyer touching down and Ash Handley converting for 16-6 into the interval. Their hopes were ended at the hands of Linnett who crossed twice in the second half to complete his hat-trick and with Abdull converting just the latter for 26-6, Rovers celebrated back-to-back wins. 

Red Devils Crush Centurions

A battle of two winless sides saw Salford Red Devils claim their first win with a 34-8 victory over Leigh Centurions. Leigh opened the scoring on nine minutes as Matty Russell crossed for a 4-0 lead that was overturned on 21 minutes by a James Greenwood try and Krisnan Inu conversion as Salford led 6-4.

The Centurions hit back on the half hour mark with an Iain Thornley try putting them ahead into the interval at 8-6. Salford regained the lead on 50 minutes as Kevin Brown crossed (Inu conv) for 12-8 before a Ken Sio try after the hour saw Inu convert for a comfortable 18-18 advantage. The hosts wrapped up the win with three late scores as Brown crossed for a second time ahead of efforts from Chris Atkin and Harvey Livett, Inu converting twice to complete a first win of the season for Salford at 34-8.

Hull FC Edge Out Wakefield

Hull FC's good start to the season continued with a 20-14 win over Wakefield Trinity at the KCOM Stadium. FC struck first with Andre Savelio crossing and Marc Sneyd converting for 6-0 before Sneyd added a penalty goal for 8-0. Trinity cut the deficit to 8-6 into the interval as Lee Kershaw raced over after an interception and Mason Lino converted. 

Hull regained an eight point lead within five minutes of the restart with Adam Swift touching down and Sneyd converting for 14-6 but again Trinity fought back to 14-10 as James Batchelor crossed. Lino levelled with a try of his own on 67 minutes for 14-14 but any hopes of a first win were dashed by Carlos Tuimavave's try seven minutes from the end which Sneyd improved for a 20-14 final score. 

Dragons Defeated By Wolves

Saturday's action saw Catalans Dragons suffer a 24-8 defeat to Warrington Wolves at Stade Gilbert Brutus. The Dragons opened up an 8-0 lead with a penalty goal and self-converted try from James Maloney before being pegged back by scores from Ben Currie and Toby King with Stefan Ratchford converting twice for a 14-8 advantage into the interval. 

The second half proved to be a close one with Warrington wrapping up the win with tries from Jake Mamo and Gareth Widdop with Ratchford converting both for a 24-8 win.