Salford fight back to beat Wigan from behind
Last Updated: 06/04/15 6:47pm
Ben Jones-Bishop scored a superb individual try as the Salford Red Devils ended a run of 17 defeats in a row to Wigan with a 24-18 win.
Both teams finished the game with 12 men as Salford claimed a big scalp on the Easter weekend.
Jones-Bishop, brought in from Leeds Rhinos in the close-season, extended his lead as Salford's leading scorer with his seventh of the Super League XX campaign.
Salford took a 12-8 lead into half-time before Jones-Bishop helped his side jump to third in the table with his 60th-minute effort. Salford's last victory over the Warriors was a 16-4 Challenge Cup fifth-round victory at the Willows all the way back in 2006.
Salford forward Weller Hauraki - already facing a potential ban after an incident at Huddersfield on Friday - and Wigan's John Bateman were shown yellow cards for a fight during the game, and when the same two players squared up the referee handed them both red cards with two minutes remaining.
There were three players in the Salford line-up who would have particularly enjoyed the victory. Scott Taylor, skipper Harrison Hansen and try-scorer Michael Dobson are all former members of the Wigan roster.
Wigan nearly took an early lead in the game when Jones-Bishop spilled a George Williams kick, but Lewis Tierney slipped and was unable to get the scoring underway.
The Warriors did not have to wait long to make amends when a Matty Smith kick was not dealt with, and Larne Patrick picked up the loose ball to canter over for a try.
Wigan increased the lead to 8-0 with a Hampshire penalty after Hauraki was caught offside from a another Smith kick.
Salford hit back through Dobson and Chase, and they combined to send Evalds over the line. Josh Griffin added the conversion before Salford took the lead for the first time with a sensational try from Dobson against his former club after a break from Griffin who added the extras once again.
Then Jones-Bishop grabbed a superb solo try on the hour to put his side into a commanding 18-8 lead. He took the ball 45 metres out and burst through two tackles before stepping around Hampshire in impressive fashion to send the Salford fans into a frenzy.
With 15 minutes remaining Hauraki and Bateman were given yellow cards after their first melee, and three minutes later Hampshire put Wigan right back into the encounter with a try and a conversion to make it 18-14.
Salford sealed the win when Dobson's pass put Evalds over for his second try four minutes from time, with Griffin adding his fourth goal from four attempts.
Another fight two minutes from time saw Bateman and Hauraki red carded before Burgess went over 39 seconds from time and final action of a thrilling encounter.