Wigan needed a last-minute Joe Burgess try to seal a 30-24 win over Hull at the DW Stadium.
Wigan needed a last-minute Joe Burgess try to seal a 30-24 win over Hull at the DW Stadium.
Wigan initially broke out to an 18-0 lead thanks to tries from Oliver Gildart, Josh Charnley and John Bateman but Hull fought back to make it 18-12 thanks to efforts from Jamie Shaul and Jack Logan at the close of the first half.
A Ben Flower try and Ryan Hampshire penalty then gave Wigan breathing space before Hull hit back again, making it a two-point game with seven minutes remaining and Wigan were then reduced to 12 men thanks to a Taulima Tautai yellow card, before Burgess scored the vital try.
Ryan Hampshire kicked five goals for his side to ensure they stayed ahead. Hull's defence was strong in the opening exchanges, and it took some slick interplay from the Wigan ball carriers to release Gildart down the left hand side for the first try of the night.
Anthony Gelling then stepped up to offload a superb pass to Charnley who was left with little to do for the Warriors' second, both of which were converted by Hampshire. Bateman, who created the first try, then crossed for the third when he ran strongly onto a short pass under the Hull posts, giving Hampshire the easiest of conversions to make it 18-0 with 31 minutes played.
Hull were under immense pressure shortly after, with Wigan pressing on their line, but a pass to the bootlaces did not go to hand, and Shaul snapped it up to run the length of the field for a try in the corner which Sneyd impressively converted.
Sneyd made no mistake with his second attempt, when Logan crossed for his side's next try on the back of poor tackling from the Warriors to make it 18-12 at half-time.
The Warriors came close to scoring twice in the third quarter, but were denied on both occasions by the video referee. First Powell crossed the line but knocked it on just before he got it down, then Bateman dotted down but the video referee spotted Flower impeding a defender in the build-up.
Flower then made amends when he took the ball with defenders in front of him, but he ignored them and ran straight for the line for the opening try of the second period. Hampshire added another two points when Hull were penalised to make it 26-12 with than ten minutes remaining.
The try sparked a comeback from Hull, who scored two tries within two minutes, both through pin-point kicks - the first of which came from Sneyd to give Rankin a four-pointer, and the second a brilliantly placed effort form Danny Houghton to allow Logan to score his second of the night.
Both were converted by Sneyd, which meant there were just two points in it with seven minutes remaining, and there was further concern for Wane when Tautai was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.
Wigan played the remainder of the game with 12 men but held out and eventually had the final say with the try from Burgess.
