Super League: Wigan beat Hull KR at the death
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 10/06/16 10:59pm
A Matty Smith conversion with two minutes remaining sealed Wigan Warriors' 20-18 win over Hull KR on Friday night.
Wigan looked dead and buried after Rovers scored 18 unanswered points before Sam Tomkins' late try broke KR's resilience.
The Warriors moved to second in the Super League standings after the win, with Hull FC two points ahead in first, after they beat Warrington 19-12 at the Halliwell Jones.
Both sides needed the points for different reasons - Rovers to keep in touch with the top eight while Wigan could not afford to lose ground on the teams at the top of Super League.
Dominic Manfredi opened the scoring in the fourth minute, using the wet conditions to slide over in the corner. Smith's missed conversion from the right-hand touchline meant the visitors held a 4-0 lead.
Nine minutes later Manfredi repeated his try-scoring feat, diving over after Rovers' defence was cut to shreds by Wigan's quick handling. Smith's second missed conversion leaft Wigan 8-0 ahead.
Errors outnumbered points scored as both sides struggled to keep hold of the ball in a scrappy encounter. It took Rovers time to find any rhythm in attack, and they finally registered their first score in the 28th minute.
Terry Campese's kick was allowed to bounce behind Wigan's try-line where his half-back partner Albert Kelly pounced on the loose ball to score. Ken Sio split the uprights with his conversion to reduce Wigan's lead to two points, which is how it remained until the break.
Clear-cut chances were few and far between at the start of the second half with handling errors littering play.
Thomas Minns and Sio then exchanged passes before Minns went over near the posts to give Rovers their first lead of the evening. Sio's conversion made it 12-8.
With a lead to defend, Rovers began to control the game. However, their skipper Campese left the game midway through the second half to the concern of the Rovers supporters.
But their concern turned to joy a minute later when Mitch Allgood found himself running through a big gap to score KR's third try of the night. Sio maintained his 100 per cent goal-kicking to make it 18-8.
With their chances of winning slipping through their fingers, Wigan stepped up their game. A blistering break by Lewis Tierney was finished by Anthony Gelling in the right-hand corner. Smith finally found his range with the conversion to make it 18-14 with 12 minutes remaining.
But there was time for Smith and Wigan to redeem themselves. With less than three minutes to play Tomkins delivered the killer blow. Rovers failed to stop the full-back in his tracks as he crashed over the line to bring his side level.
Smith's kick then rescued a game that Wigan looked set to lose.
