Round 15
Wigan Warriors 47 d. Hull FC 16

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Barrett and Richards shine in Wigan's demolition of Hull FC
Tue May 29, 2007
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Australians Trent Barrett and Pat Richards were the scourge of Hull FC for the second time this season as Wigan Warriors came from 16-2 down to secure an emphatic 47-16 victory that lifts them to fourth place in the engage Super League.

Former Kangaroo stand-off Barrett, who scored two tries in Wigan's 30-20 win at Hull in March, repeated the feat on the stroke of half-time to bring his side back into the game after Hull had threatened to run away with it.

And left winger Richards clinched the double, touching down twice in the first seven minutes of the second half before completing his first hat-trick for the club in the final act of the match.

Richards, who scored 18 points through two tries and five goals at the KC Stadiuim, also kicked nine goals from 11 attempts to finish with a personal haul of 30 points.

Between them, the Aussies contributed 39 points but the Warriors were also indebted to the power-packed running of New Zealand forward Iafeta Paleaaesina as they gradually wore down their visitors, scoring 45 points without reply.

Yet Wigan were staring at a fifth home defeat of the season after an abject opening left them trailing 16-2 after 32 minutes.

Prior to the game, the Warriors had won just twice at home in Super League XII and, fresh from a second humbling of the year by promoted Hull KR, they looked desperately short of confidence against Rovers' neighbours.

They had all the early chances, with Sean O'Loughlin knocking on after collecting his side's own kick-off and Shane Millard gathered the ball from a lucky richochet after Richards found the woodwork with a ninth-minute penalty only to knock on.

Those misses began to look costly as Hull seized control of the match with a scoring burst of three tries in 18 minutes.

Hull captain Lee Radford struck the first blow, sidestepping past Gareth Hock for the first try on 14 minutes after lively stand-off Tommy Lee had been hauled down short of the line.

Eight minutes later 19-year-old centre Craig Hall beat two Wigan defenders to Richard Horne's grubber kick to claim a try on only his third engage Super League appearance.

It got even better for the visitors when impressive second-rower Willie Manu took Lee's reverse pass and beat four men in a jinking run to the line for Hull's third try, with former Wigan forward Danny Tickle kicking his second goal.

Had Great Britain centre Kirk Yeaman managed to hang onto Lee's bouncing kick with the line open, Hull might have been out of reach.

But they made the most of the let-off and it was Barrett who brought the Warriors back into contention, forcing his way over the Hull line twice in four minutes just before the interval to take his try tally for the season to 11.

Richards added both conversions to make it 14-16 and the rejuvenated Warriors continued to dominate after the break.

Richards outjumped his opponent Matt Sing to touch down Thomas Leuluai's lifted kick within two minutes of the restart and he crossed again five minutes later after Wigan once more regained possession from a penalty that struck the woodwork.

The former Wests Tigers winger kept the scoreboard ticking over with a 53rd-minute penalty and improved Wigan's fifth try scored by substitute hooker Micky Higham, who burrowed his way over on 19 minutes, shortly after having a similar effort disallowed by video referee Ben Thaler.

Barrett added a drop goal before Wigan finished with a flourish, Hock intercepting a stray Hull pass to get full-back Chris Ashton racing in for a try and Richards completing his hat-trick in the final seconds.

Report source: www.superleague.co.uk

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