Hull KR 26 Wigan Warriors 14: Robins register a double against Adrian Lam's side

Adrian Lam's side had battled back from an early 16-0 deficit with three unanswered tries before the break, capped by Marshall's second try - a wonderful dive in the left corner - to make it 16-14 at half-time.

But they failed to register any more points in the second-half and a quickfire Robins double took the game out of their reach.

While Tony Smith's play-offs chasing hosts deserve praise for some enterprising and entertaining play, they were aided and abetted by a lacklustre defence.

There were some other highlights for Lam's outfit, such as an influential performance by Jackson Hastings, a lively late cameo by Jai Field and strong spells from Jake Bibby - who scored their opening try - Morgan Smithies and Joe Bullock.

But they weren't good enough to prevent Hull KR registering a double against them, and Lam will seek urgent improvements before they welcome St Helens to the DW Stadium next week.

Hull KR headed into the match just one position below fourth-placed Wigan - despite having won five games fewer, due to the win percentage format of the table.

The Warriors - who had won five of their previous six - struggled to recover from the early loss of Sam Powell to a head injury, Joe Shorrocks motoring through the rest of the game as an emergency hooker, but that didn't excuse their errors which gifted KR a flying, three-try start.

Two of those tries stemmed from spills at the play-the-ball - from Bibby and Marshall - as Albert Vete crashed over for their first.

If their opener was simple and direct, the Robins showed their trademark ad-lib style for their second five minutes later, Greg Minikin fending off the returning Oliver Gildart far too easily and then offloading and picking Wigan's defence apart for Rowan Milnes to touch down.

Ben Crooks' second goal made it 12-0 and it went even worse, Marshall beaten to an angled kick by rival winger Ethan Ryan, who turned and raced over.

For a Wigan side which had appeared to have rediscovered their defensive mettle, this was a relapse to earlier in the year.

But from that point, their response was admirable.

Hastings took a grip of the contest, directing an efficient attack, and from Harry Smith's looping ball, Bibby drove for the touchline and went to air to grab his 12th try of the campaign.

Moments later, Hastings' measured chip eventually led to Marshall arcing over and Smith's first goal reeled in the hosts' lead to six points by the half-hour mark.

Wigan grew in strength, and before the break some slick build-up finished with a wonderful pass from Gildart to Marshall, whose spectacular finish in the left corner cut the score to 16-14 at half-time.

Lam's side received a scare early in the second-half when Milnes had a try ruled out by the video referee. But they didn't heed that warning, KR dominating the following minutes and hitting the visitors with a quickfire double salvo.

First, Kane Linnett powered beyond Willie Isa in the 56th minute to open up a six point gap. And from the restart, KR marched down field with some enterprising play, unexpected passes and offloads for Jez Litten to finish, Crooks' goal making it 26-14.

Jai Field, who returned from injury last week, came off the bench for the final 15 minutes and added some spark as Wigan launched a salvage mission.

With seven minutes to go, Hastings crossed from a Smith kick but a try was ruled out by the video referee. With seconds to go, Farrell and Matt Parcell were sinbinned for a skirmish.

Hull KR: Crooks; Ryan, Minikin, Kenny-Dowall, Hall; Takairangi, Milnes; Vete, Parcell, King, Linnett, Johnson, Lawler. Subs: Sims, Litten, Storton, Maher.

Wigan: Hardaker; Bibby, Isa, Gildart, Marshall; Smith, Hastings; Havard, Powell, Clubb, Pearce-Paul, Farrell, Smithies. Subs: Bullock, Byrne, Field, Shorrocks.

Half-time: 16-14

Referee: Liam Moore