Dymock inspires Broncos' historic and unlikely triumph
Wigan 30 London Broncos 34
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Your support makes all the difference.London won at Wigan for the first time in their history, turning around an early 16-point deficit in a quite incredible match. After appearing to be on their way to a heavy defeat, the Broncos fought their way back and, although they had to defend for long periods in the second half, showed the opportunism to keep their noses in front.
Wigan had the luxury of being able to recall four internationals after injury, even though the Australians, Julian O'Neill and Jamie Ainscough, were both surprise absentees. It was two of their youngsters who struck for them after just a minute, Sean O'Loughlin kicking over the top and Danny Tickle taking advantage of the favourable bounce with the Broncos' defence caught cold.
They rapidly extended their lead, Brett Dallas turning the ball inside for David Hodgson to score with ease. London were soon opened up again with the utmost ease. This time it was Tickle who did the initial damage, Paul Johnson supporting him for another simple try.
Some of the urgency went out of Wigan after Tickle's goal made it a 16-point lead. The Broncos, far more impressive in attack than defence, punished them when Jim Dymock drove over, Tony Martin contributing the conversion. Remarkably, the Broncos then seized the lead with two converted tries in the three minutes before half time.
Terry O'Connor's dissent and a quickly-taken penalty by Dennis Moran – of the type supposedly outlawed this season – set up Dymock for his second. Immediately before the break, Russell Bawden went through the middle of a Wigan defence which had lost all its resilience and Andrew King finished off the move for a scoreline that would have been inconceivable after the early exchanges.
Wigan's troubles continued after the break with Chris Thorman, a thorn in their side all night, scoring a brilliant individual try to stretch the lead to eight points.
The home side applied constant pressure until Gareth Hock scored from Terry Newton's pass and Tickle's kick brought them within two points. But that was as good as it got. Twice giving Moran interceptions, they paid for it on the second occasion when Martin arrived in support to go over.
The former Wigan player Rob Jackson made the points safe with a well-taken try from Dymock's pass and Brian Carney's try in the last minute was a mere consolation, leaving the handful of London supporters to hail an unlikely victory.
Wigan: Radlinski, Dallas, Johnson, Hodgson, Carney, O'Loughlin, Lam, C Smith, M Smith, O'Connor, Cassidy, Tickle, Hock. Substitues used: Bibey, Sculthorpe, Newton, Robinson.
London Broncos: Roy, King, Martin, Jackson, Hall, Thorman, Moran, Stephenson, Budworth, Marshall, Toshack, Retchless, Dymock. Substitutes used: Bawden, Haughey, Cox, Hamilton.
Referee: R Laughton (Barnsley).
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