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Rugby League

Wigan off bottom of Super League after victory

07/07/2006

Wigan Warriors moved off the bottom of Super League after a 42-24 win over relegation rivals Wakefield Wildcats at the JJB stadium.

Two tries from Mark Calderwood and nine goals from Michael Dobson led the Warriors to their fourth consecutive victory in their bid to avoid the drop.

Brian Noble's side raced to a 22-0 lead at half-time after tries from Bryan Fletcher and Calderwood twice crossing the line to take advantage of Wakefield's indiscipline after standoff Ben Jeffries was sin-binned.

The visitors, renowned for staving off relegation, reduced the deficit at the start of the second-half after a try from Adam Watene on 44 minutes.

Scott Logan then fed Danny Orr to cross the line, which Dobson converted to extend the hosts lead to 28-6.

Nathan McAvoy and and Sean O' Loughin then scored further tries to seal the points for Wigan despite two late tries from Wakefield's New Zealand forward David Solomona.

Leeds edged out bitter rivals Bradford 26-24 with a last-minute conversion to keep the pressure on St Helens at the top of the table.

Scrum-half Rob Borrows was the hero for the Rhinos with a successful conversion from the right touchline.

The visitors had been leading 24-14 midway through the second half after a hat-trick from Karl Pryce.

But the hosts mounted a stunning comeback in the last ten minutes after tries from Danny Mcguire and Scott McDonald's second try of the game levelled the scores before Burrows' heroics.

Elsewhere, champions-elect St Helens piled on more misery for Catalan Dragons after a 52-26 win.

Despite the Dragons taking a shock lead from Justin Murphy on six minutes, the Saints piled in with six tries from Ade Gardner, Sean Long, Jamie Lyon, Leon Pryce, Keiron Cunningham and James Roby, despite being without five first-team regulars.

The visitors mounted a fightback in the second half with two-tries from Sean Rudder and Murphy completing his hat-trick.

But the hosts, who also scored 52 points against Wakefield last weekend, added to their advantage through Vinny Anderson, Paul Anderson and Jamie Lyon, who capped an impressive display with eight goals.


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