Wigan 26-6 Warrington: Dom Manfredi back with a bang for Warriors
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 15/09/18 10:15pm
Dom Manfredi ended over two years of hurt with a two-try return to action as Wigan beat Warrington 26-6 to remain unbeaten in the Super 8s.
The winger, who had been on the sidelines for 762 days following a serious knee injury sustained at Castleford in 2016, scored twice late on to help secure the points for Wigan.
The opening 40 minutes will not feature in many end-of-season highlight reels, but it was Wigan who led 6-0 the break with a try from nothing from Thomas Leuluai.
Warrington managed to level things in the second half with Stefan Ratchford going over, but two tries in the final 10 minutes from Manfredi saw the Warriors record their fifth successive win in the Super 8s. Ryan Sutton then added a final score.
The Warriors looked the better team with the ball in hand but they were unable to create many chances, though Willie Isa went close.
Warrington were missing key players Kevin Brown, Tyrone Roberts, Chris Hill, Mike Cooper and Ben Murdoch-Masila and it showed in the opening 40 minutes as they failed to create many try-scoring opportunities.
They did create two good chances, with Bodene Thompson held up over the line while Ratchford was unable to pick up and touch down following a neat reverse kick from Declan Patton.
With the clock ticking down it looked like both teams were going into the break without any points on the board, until John Bateman decided to show off his football skills with a double kick-ahead and Leuluai won the race to the ball to score. Sam Tomkins converted as Wigan led 6-0 at half-time.
Warrington looked the better team at the start of the second half with Daryl Clark leading from the front, but it was Wigan who almost extended their lead with Tom Davies and George Williams going close.
Wigan were then reduced to 12 men when Tomkins was sin-binned after aggressively questioning the referee's decision to award Warrington a scrum.
Warrington took full advantage of the extra man, with Ratchford this time getting on the end of Patton's kick to score. Patton's conversion took the Wolves level.
Manfredi, who had a solid game considering he had not played for so long, was on the end of a swinging arm from Tom Lineham that saw the Warrington winger sin-binned as things threatened to boil over.
That high tackle had no effect on the returning winger as he crossed for a fine solo effort after Oliver Gildart got Wigan into good field position.
Manfredi did not want to stop there as he then forced his way over in the corner and with the Wolves tiring, Sutton barged over from close range. Tomkins converted all three tries in the second half to secure a 26-6 victory.