Wigan 14-6 St Helens: Hosts survive a second-half fightback to record a memorable derby win

Wigan head coach Matt Peet hailed the way his side rose to the occasion against rivals St Helens on a Good Friday derby to remember at the DW Stadium.

Ten points from Harry Smith and a second-half try from Toby King propelled the hosts to victory in front of the Warriors’ biggest home crowd in 18 years.

Peet’s men were pinned back by a late rally from the Saints but stood firm thanks to stunning defensive performances from Morgan Smithies and Joe Shorrocks.

Peet said: ‘When you play teams like St Helens you never really feel like you’ve won it, and even right to the end we knew Saints were capable of putting scores together.

‘If you’re going to compete with them you’ve got to out-match them in so many areas and in terms of effort and commitment I felt we did that really well.’

A second-half try from Jonny Lomax gave Saints hope and Mark Percival’s conversion dragged them back within eight points as they threatened a grandstand finish. 

But Wigan repelled the Saints surge to the end, Shorrocks’ tackle ensuring Morgan Knowles failed to ground the ball in the corner, before late mistakes by Lewis Dodd and Knowles again sealed the visitors’ fate.

Wigan’s win moved them up to second in the Super League table but Peet insisted: ‘It could have gone either way so we won’t get carried away with it. It’s important we recognise the win and that the lads enjoy it because these games are there to try and write your little bit of history, and today no one can take away that effort.’

It was an afternoon of missed opportunities for Saints, for whom Tommy Makinson was also dragged into touch inches from the corner midway through the first half.

And Saints boss Paul Wellens acknowledged his team need to be more clinical. ‘I can’t fault the players on effort, I thought we had that in abundance, but ultimately we just came up short and that’s disappointing,’ said Wellens. ‘Not taking opportunities was an issue.’

Wellens revealed forward Sione Mata’utia had been ‘rattled’ but was recovering slowly after being knocked out while making a tackle in the final moments of the match.