Magic Weekend: Three see red in Wigan win

Three men saw red as Wigan strolled to a 42-16 victory over St Helens in the final game of the Magic Weekend.

It was a third derby victory of the season for the Warriors, who were never really troubled by their out of sorts opponents.

The superb Sam Tomkins got the scoring underway after six minutes, feeding off Brett Finch‘s midfield break, and Gareth Hock helped Wigan double their advantage inside 11 minutes.

After going close down the left, Wigan switched play to the right and scored their third try when Darrell Goulding‘s smart little kick was grounded by Josh Charnley in the corner.

Tomkins had the record Magic Weekend crowd on their feet when he showed Gary Wheeler a clean pair of heels for a fine solo effort, and the game was long gone by the time St Helens finally joined the party through Paul Clough with just four minutes to go until half time.

Any hopes that Clough’s try would trigger a fightback for St Helens in the second half were dashed as Charnley pounced for his second try on the hooter, to send the Warriors in 30-6 to the good.

George Carmont showed blistering pace to add Wigan’s seventh try, but the game’s big talking point came at a scrum on 53 minutes, when Gareth Hock and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook clashed, with several other players getting involved. 

Referee Ben Thaler showed red cards to Hock and team-mate Chris Tuson, as well as Saints forward Shaun Magennis.

McCarthy-Scarsbrook, who went unpunished, dusted himself off and minutes later went over for a try, but even that score failed to ignite an unlikely Saints comeback.

Charnley nudged over a penalty, and was then on hand to convert a simple try by Liam Farrell, as the game and the weekend went out with a whimper.

There was time for a late Paul Wellens try, but it was far too little too late, and couldn’t prevent Wigan from re-taking top spot in Super League.