Dugdale treble sees Wigan secure promotion after convincing victory at Douglas Valley

Wigan's victory at the weekend saw them clinch promotion

The home side made a bright start, taking the ball into the Clitheroe half before an infringement by the visitors saw a penalty awarded on the 22 yard line, right in front of goal.

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Jack Dugdale spotted an opportunity and took a quick tap, breaking through the staggered defensive line to score under the posts inside two minutes, with Joss Parker adding the conversion.

Wigan seized another opportunity on the quarter-hour mark when Dugdale took the ball on and feigned to ship it out wide, before cutting back on the ‘A’ gap, right next to the ruck.

He beat three men to go over under the sticks, and Parker added the conversion for a 14-0 lead which Wigan took into the half time break.

The second half restarted with Clitheroe in the ascendancy, and eight minutes after the restart the visitors were camped deep in Wigan territory.

Attack after attack was rebuffed in what was a great defensive effort from the Douglas Valley men, but Clitheroe finally broke through a stretched defence to go over in the left corner.

The score seemed to galvanise the home side and, just before the hour, Will Boardman broke through the defensive line and only had the full-back to beat.

A subtle step took Boardman over the top of the flailing defender, and he crashed over for another score under the sticks which Parker duly converted for a 21-5 lead.

Clitheroe were not done yet, as Ollie Morgan saw a kick charged down by the chasing visitors' winger, who flopped over the line for an easy score.

With 10 minutes to go, and Wigan searching for a bonus point that would keep up the pressure on league leaders Thornton Cleveleys, Dugdale pounced once again.

Clitheroe fed their own scrum, but a good shove from the dominant Wigan pack led to Dugdale spotting the opportunity to steal the ball and take it on.

With Clitheroe set up to attack from the scrum, Dugdale’s hat-trick score came easier than the previous two, and Parker ended the day with a perfect four from four after nailing the conversion.