Super League: Liam Farrell's hat-trick of tries helps Wigan Warriors beat Bradford Bulls
Liam Farrell scored a first-half hat-trick of tries as Super League leaders Wigan beat Bradford 36-6 at Odsal.
Last Updated: 14/04/13 6:31pm
Second rower Farrell bagged a first-half treble as the in-form Warriors recorded a fifth straight victory in a row, maintaining their place at the summit of Super League.
Blake Green and Jack Hughes also touched down before the break to help the visitors open up a 30-0 lead, meaning the game was over as a contest.
Sam Tomkins added a further try in the second half to take his tally to the season to 14, while the Bulls managed a consolation effort through Jarrod Sammut that the scorer also converted.
Farrell's first of the afternoon broke the deadlock before Green got through to the line thanks to a superb dummy that caught out Chev Walker, Pat Richards converting both to make it 12-0.
Denied
Bradford thought they had hit back when Elliot Kear went over in the corner, only for the Wales international to be denied a try due to a forward pass by Adrian Purtell.
Wigan duly marched down the other end to cross themselves through Jack Hughes, Sean O'Loughlin setting up his team-mate, and a fourth try arrived when Brett Kearney made a mess of dealing with Richards' kick.
Farrell was the beneficiary of the error and the England international completed his treble before the break, making it nine tries in 12 games.
It seemed the Warriors would continue at the same pace after the re-start when full-back Tomkins raced onto Matty Smith's kick just 90 seconds into the half, Richards adding his sixth successful conversion,
Sammut got the Bulls on the board when he collected Luke Gale's up-and-under to draw him level with Tomkins and London Broncos winger Kieran Dixon at the top of the try-scoring charts.
The half-back added the conversion for the home side, who suffered defeat for the first time in four matches. They also finished up with only 12 men; Elliott Whitehead was the man to be sin-binned in the closing minutes.