With four Super League clubs taken out of action by the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup, it is a case of quality rather than quantity this weekend.
The round opened with third against fifth as Wigan Warriors and the Warrington Wolves met to do battle at the DW Stadium, both keen to keep up the pressure on the clubs above them.
Both sides came into the game on the back of nilling their opponents last week, despite some below par performances in the preceding weeks.
Ben Flower was named on the Wigan bench for the first time since ending his six month ban for the assault on Lance Hohaia in last season Grand Final and Warrington were unchanged from the side who recorded a Super League record equalling eighty point win over Wakefield.
Warrington carried on from where they had left off and dominated the opening ten minutes, with Wigan barely getting a six on the ball and not getting close to their opponents half. On seven Joel Monaghan went over of a Stefan Ratchford pass and Ratchford added the two from the touch line. Three minutes later and Chris Bridge was over in the corner, pushing past three tacklers, after Hampshire had gifted the Wolves possession with a shocking knock-on from a kick through. This time Ratchford failed with the extras but it was 10-0 and the Wolves looked on fire.
Then Wigan awoke as they answered with two tries of their own, again separated only by three minutes.
On thirteen Burgess and Williams combined to go fifty metres down the left wing before finding Liam Farrell to score. A brilliant passing move three minutes later saw Burgess break down the wing before an inside pass to Hampshire to score. Matty Smith converted both for 12-10.
On twenty-four the visitors were back in front when Chris Bridge grabbed his second off a Myler pass. Again Ratchford failed to convert.
The last try of the first half came on the half hour mark as the lead changed hands again. A fantastic passing move through eight pairs of Wigan hands saw a final offload from Tomkins to Manfredi to walk over. Although Smith missed the conversion his side took a narrow 16-14 lead into the interval.
The early action in the second half saw Wigan squander a chance on the Warrington goal line before the Wolves broke down field and Ben Currie found a gap to run the angle and score. Ratchford kicked the goal and Warrington were back in the lead.
A fifth switch of lead came on fifty-one when Gelling went over off a short pass from Williams and when Matty Smith converted the home side were 22-20 ahead and had built their platform for the win.
On the hour Smith and Hampshire combined for Manfredi to step inside for his second and six minutes later the Wigan winger had his hat-trick in bizarre circumstances after an attempted drop-goal was charged down, Gelling kicked on the bouncing ball into Manfredi's hands for the try. smith converted neither try but at six tries to four it was a Wigan win in a thrilling spectacle.
This was a great open game with plenty of skill on show. Despite an awful opening ten minutes it was the Warriors who found their form and condemned the Wolves to five defeats in their last six games and pushed them below Castleford Tigers into sixth.
Wigan: Hampshire, Manfredi, Gelling, Sarginson, Williams, Smith, Mossop, McIllorum, Crosby, Tomkins J, Farrell, Bateman. Subs: Flower, Clubb, Tautai, Tomkins L.
Warrington: Ratchford, Monaghan, Currie, Bridge, King, Ormsby, Patton, Myler, Hill, Higham, Asostasi, Currie Westwood. Subs: Clark, Sims, England, Laithwaite.
Referee: Richard Silverwood
Attendance: 14,175
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