Wigan end St Helens’ seven-match winning run with 25-0 victory
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 19/08/16 11:43pm
Anthony Gelling grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Wigan showed their defensive mettle to keep St Helens scoreless and end their seven-match winning run.
It was sweet revenge for Wigan after a 23-4 home defeat by their arch rivals only four weeks earlier and, although their hero with three of their four tries was Gelling, coach Shaun Wane will be just as delighted with his side's overall defensive efforts which saw them whitewash their neighbours for the first time since 1989.
Saints had been on a roll but they sorely missed the creativity of suspended playmaker Luke Walsh, with his understudy Theo Fages unable to make much of an impression on his first appearance for two months.
Man of the match Gelling, who had scored only four tries all season before Friday's match, proved to be a magnet for the ball all game and made his first impact after only three minutes.
St Helens winger Adam Swift lost the ball on his own 20-metre area and compounded the error in the next set by being unable to prevent the Wigan centre from stretching out of his tackle to plant the ball on the line.
Matty Smith added the touchline conversion to make it 6-0 but for the next 20 minutes the Warriors were camped inside their own half as Saints demonstrated their ability to hang onto possession but without being able to penetrate their opponents' sure defence.
Wigan weathered the storm and thought they had scored against the run of play when stand-off George Williams got centre Dan Sarginson over the line only to have his pass ruled forward.
However, Shaun Wane's men showed their clinical side six minutes later when second rower John Bateman's short pass got Gelling through a gap in the St Helens defence for his second try.
Smith extended his side's lead to 12-0 with his second goal and Wigan strengthened their hold on the game with more impressive defence.
They made life difficult with Oliver Gildart, Liam Farrell and Gelling all coughing up possession inside their own 20-metre area but Saints lacked the cohesion in the absence of Walsh to make it count.
They had their moments in the second half, particularly when hooker James Roby was held up over the line, but their last chance of getting something out of the game disappeared when Wigan winger Josh Charnley tracked back to bring down Swift following his break out of defence.
Smith nudged his side three scores in front on 58 minutes with his eighth drop goal of the season and Gelling made sure of victory when he intercepted Jordan Turner's pass 10 metres from his own line to sprint away for his hat-trick.
Smith missed the conversion but made amends shortly afterwards with a penalty and also converted a late try from Williams, who supported a half-break by substitute forward Taulima Tautai to score his side's fourth try.
