Rugby League: Wigan take a stranglehold

Wigan . . .23

St Helens. .3

FOR anyone weary of the seemingly inevitable spectacle of Wigan parading the Silk Cut Challenge Cup every May, yesterday should have been their day.

If any side could have halted the campaign before it produced a sixth successive Wembley triumph, it seemed that St Helens, convincing victors over Wigan twice this season, must be that team.

But the embarrassment of a

41-6 league defeat by St Helens in December had taught Wigan exactly what they must do in yesterday's meeting. Saints hardly made a mistake that day; yesterday they were harried into errors from the start and Wigan were clinical in the way they took advantage.

Saints took the lead with a drop goal by David Lyon, but Wigan looked ominously strong from the beginning. Their gang-tackling drove Saints' forwards back and the result was a spate of sloppy passing under pressure with Kevin Ward, so often their inspiration, the worst offender.

Ward lost the ball to Martin Dermott to start the rot for the first Wigan try, Jason Robinson hurling himself excitingly towards the sticks and Dean Bell finding a gap between Ward and Paul Loughlin to score on the right wing.

The precision of Wigan's kicking played an important part in their supremacy. Frano Botica's conversion from the touchline was the first of four successes in as many attempts and drop goals became another strand in their strategy after half-time.

Joe Lydon, something of a specialist, landed two and Martin Offiah even got in on the act, but the killer for Saints and their hopes of breaking Wigan's stranglehold on the trophy, was a fine try 12 minutes into the second half.

Andy Platt, outstanding in a dominant Wigan pack, slipped a short ball to Phil Clarke, who broke the tackle to charge over from 20 yards. Before Saints could recover, Dermott ran with typical enterprise from dummy-half, skipped out of a pair of tackles and sent Shaun Edwards in for the try that put the result beyond doubt.

Botica's fourth goal, a penalty after Shane Cooper had robbed Robinson at the play-the-ball, completed a scoreline that was a fair reflection of Wigan's superiority. Their coach, John Monie, called it 'our best performance of the season'. Saints managed just one other score, a second-half penalty from Loughlin.

For the rest of the match, Wigan's tackling and teamwork kept their greatest rivals under complete control. There have been times this season in other competitions when Wigan have looked as though they have started to become fallible. None of that applies as yet to the Challenge Cup.

Wigan: S Hampson (J Lydon, 33 min); J Robinson, D Bell (capt), A Farrar, M Offiah; F Botica, S Edwards; K Skerrett, M Dermott (Hampson, 68 min), A Platt, D Betts, B McGinty (N Cowie, 60 min), P Clarke.

St Helens: D Lyon; A Hunte, G Connolly, P Loughlin, L Quirk; T Ropati, S Cooper (capt); K Ward (P Vievers, 60), B Dwyer, G Mann, J Harrison, S Nickle, C Joynt.

Referee: R Smith (Castleford).

Scorers: Lyon (drop goal, 18 min, 0-1); Bell/Botica (try/conv, 21 min, 6-1); Lydon (drop goal, 42 min, 7-1); Loughlin (pen, 44 min, 7-3); Offiah (drop goal, 47 min, 8-3); Clarke/Botica (try/conv, 52 min, 14-3); Lydon (drop goal, 57 min, 15-3); Edwards/Botica (try/conv, 58 min, 21-3); Botica (pen, 69 min, 23-3).