Wigan 38 Warrington 10

They held only a slender 16-10 lead at half-time. But two quick-fire tries - by John Bateman and George Williams - opened up a 26-10 lead.

Wingers Liam Marshall and Tom Davies added late tries on an impressive display which saw them keep the Wolves scoreless in the second-half.

Whether this will give the Warriors a psychological advantage for their Challenge Cup quarter-final tie in two weeks’ time remains to be seen, but it at least kept the chasing Wolves at jabbing distance away on the table.

And with St Helens beating Widnes by 38-18 in the earlier match, it maintained the pressure on the Super League leaders, who preserve a two-point buffer - though Warriors have a game in hand.

The game was at times scrappy and niggly in an entertaining first-half before Wigan cut loose to secure their eighth straight victory.

It was made all the more impressive given captain and talisman Sean O’Loughlin missed out with a calf-strain, but Sam Tomkins and George Williams marshalled the game superbly.

Stand-in captain Tomkins nudged them into an early 2-0 lead, but Wire dominated the early exchanges. John Bateman - playing at centre in place of Dan Sarginson - kicked a threat dead and then Ryan Atkins was held short.

Wire continued to chip away at the line and in the 12th minute, Harvey Livett wriggled out of Willie Isa’s tackle to cross.

Wigan failed to deal with two kicks, forcing them into a further spell of defending, before a scuffle between Joel Tomkins and his former team-mate Kevin Brown gave the Cherry and Whites a reprieve.

Wane’s charges improved from that point and, having marched down field, a neat interaction between Liam Farrell and George Williams prised open a gap for Sam Powell to dash through. Tomkins’ conversion made it 8-4.

And the full-back extended their advantage minutes later, adding the polish to a left-side attack and stretching over to ground. He arrowed the conversion to open up a 10-point gap.

Wire, though, have proved a durable side this year and after Bryson Goodwin slipped out of Bateman’s grasp, it needed a desperate tackle by Isa and Powell to stop the former New Zealand international close to the line.

From that position, however, Brown’s dissecting grubber was touched down by Stefan Ratchford - three successive try-scorers from the St Pat’s nursery - and Goodwin added the goal. Tomkins had the final say of the half, booting a goal after Tyrone Roberts was penalised for a high tackle on Williams.

Warrington had the better chances from the restart and Wigan were indebted to a great try-saving effort from Ryan Sutton on Livett, who spilled a solid chance from the following set.

Ex-Warrior Josh Charnley, who had scored 12 tries in eight games since returning from rugby union, was facing his former club for the first time. He had been having a quiet game by his own lofty standards but when he collected a high-ball, he blazed down field before being dragged down by Tomkins and Oliver Gildart.

But Wigan effectively secured the win with a double-salvo.

After 50 minutes Morgan Escare was introduced from the bench and quickly made an impression, turning the ball inside for Bateman to charge through a gap and beat Ratchford with a neat step.

And then came the highlight of the highlights, a sensational try which began when Williams kicked a loose ball to clean-up a threat, Gildart collected and sent Marshall away from his own half for a foot race with Charnley.

The Wigan winger did everything right, teasing the pass to commit his counterpart, before releasing the ball for Williams to sweep over and make it 26-10.

Another flare-up involving another of Warrington’s ex-Warriors - Charnley taking offence to a dangerous tackle - raised the noise from the healthy crowd inside the sun-kissed St James’ Park as the contest entered the final quarter.

Wire didn’t throw in the towel and - after Tomkins shut-down a breakaway attack sparked by Ben Murdoch-Masila’s charge - Ratchford was denied an effort by the video referee.

With three minutes to go, Marshall scored when he beat Charnley to Williams’ measured chip, before Davies got in on the act from a Wire error.

Wigan: S Tomkins; Davies, Bateman, Gildart, Marshall; Williams, Powell; Clubb, Leuluai, Flower, Isa, Farrell, J Tomkins. Subs: Escare, Sutton, Navarrete, Tautai.

Warrington: Ratchford; Lineham, Goodwin, Atkins, Charnley; Brown, Roberts; Hill, Clark, Akauola, Livett, Hughes, Westwood. Subs: Murdoch-Masila, Patton, Philbin, King.

Referee: Robert Hicks

Half-time: 16-10