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Raper's irregulars snatch win to halt slide

Wigan 24 St Helens

Dave Hadfield
Saturday 19 April 2003 00:00 BST
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A patched-up Wigan side with nine regulars missing and four players making their debuts halted their losing run with a performance of astonishing bravery against St Helens yesterday.

Facing a fourth defeat in a row for the first time since 1985, Wigan trailed 22-12 at the break, but produced something truly remarkable in the second half. Five minutes after the interval, Adrian Lamb sold a dummy to Paul Sculthorpe and the outstanding Mark Smith was in support to send Shaun Briscoe over. Two goals from Danny Tickle cut the Saints' lead to two points and the visitors' never recovered their composure, with Sculthorpe and Sean Long guilty of impatience.

Even after Terry Newton went over for his second try to give Wigan the lead for the first time, they had a tremendous amount of defending to do. Briscoe set the tone with a couple of wonder tackles, but the whole team's determination shows how premature it would be to write them off.

Their coach, Stuart Raper, said: "Winning the Challenge Cup was the highlight of my coaching career, but this is the best victory I've been involved in, because of the circumstances. This is a very significant turning point for this club.''

Saints' Ian Millward needs a similar turn-around after they lost four in a row for the first time since 1994. "We are producing entertainment but not results,'' he said.

It all looked so different as Wigan spent most of the first half hanging on against opponents who seemed to have more attacking options. Huge passes from Long and Sculthorpe put Darren Albert round the outside of Jon Whittle.

Wigan fought back, with Newton going over from dummy half, but Saints replied with a similar try from Mick Higham, a breathtaking length-of-the-field effort. Paul Wellens began it, Ade Gardner carried it on and Darren Smith and Jason Hooper completed a sweeping move in a candidate for try of the season.

Again Wigan fought back strongly with a well-worked try featuring the other Sculthorpe, younger brother Danny, and Martin Aspinall and finished by Tickle, but immediately before half-time Whittle was caught out by Paul Sculthorpe's swirling kick to the corner and Albert scored an easy second.

But Whittle and the three teenagers on the bench all played their part in the extraordinary effort that followed.

Wigan: Briscoe; Carney, Aspinwall, Johnson, Whittle; O'Loughlin, Lam; O'Connor, Newton, C Smith, Bibey, Tickle, M Smith. Substitutes: Allen, Brown, Roberts, D Sculthorpe.

St Helens: Wellens; Gardner, Gleeson, D Smith, Albert; P Sculthorpe, Long; Britt, Higham, Ward, Joynt, Stankevitch, Hooper. Substitutes: Edmondson, Jones, Jonkers, Stewart.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick (Warrington).

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