Wigan man the barricades to withstand Millard's late surge

Widnes 18 Wigan

The days when Wigan dominated the game imperiously might have gone, but their young side ground out the sort of hard-earned victory at Widnes that keeps them in touch with the leading group in Super League.

A fluctuating second half looked as though it might have another twist in its tail when Shane Millard's late try reduced Wigan's lead to four points, but the defence which had performed admirably throughout served them well.

Playing against his former club for the first time, the player now known as Jules O'Neill missed an early opportunity to put Widnes ahead with a penalty but then succeeded with another, after Terry O'Connor had held down Adam Hughes in the tackle.

Wigan had shown little, but they exploded into life after 17 minutes when the elusive Adrian Lam made the initial break and Brian Carney was in support to celebrate his new three-year contract with a try, with Danny Tickle's conversion putting Wigan ahead.

Widnes continued to enjoy more than their fair share of possession but could not convert it into points.

Four minutes before half time, referee, Russell Smith, ruled that Lawford had knocked-on in charging down Nick Graham's kick and Wigan applied the pressure from the resulting scrum possession. Widnes stopped Paul Johnson on the line, but Wigan had the numbers on the right and Tickle's pass put Martin Aspinwall over.

It could have been worse for the home side when Lam made another break, but Gareth Hock threw the ball behind his supporting players and the chance went begging.

Widnes a cutting edge 10 minutes after the break when Ryan Sheridan's long pass and Paul Atcheson's ability to slip the ball out of the tackle set up Adam Hughes for a try converted by O'Neill to bring the scores level.

O'Neill's penalty put them in front, before Terry Newton pounced on a loose ball to send Jamie Ainscough away to give Wigan the advantage once more

Six minutes from time, Wigan seemed to have made sure of the points when Newton spotted a gap from dummy-half and planted the ball over the line despite Atcheson's tackle.

But Millard's close-range effort ensured that the drama and tension continued right up until the final hooter, although Wigan's more incisive play had made them worthy winners.

Widnes: Spruce. Golden, Demetriou, Hughes, Giles, Lawford, Sheridan, Relf, Millard, Julian O'Neill, Hay, Frame, Jules O'Neill. Substitutes used: MacDonald, Farrell, Atcheson, Alcock.

Wigan: Radlinski, Carney, Aspinwall, Hodgson, Ainscough, Johnson, Lam, O'Connor, Newton, Sculthorpe, Hock, Tickle, Graham. Substitutes used: M Smith, Briscoe, Roberts, Brown.

Referee: R Smith (Castleford).