Wigan overcome double dismissal to overcome Orrell in battle of the borough

Wigan were too strong for local rivals Orrell at the weekend

It was Orrell who took the early spoils, taking advantage of good field position and some Wigan indiscipline to slot a penalty through Craig Thomas.

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Another Orrell attack saw them awarded another penalty in front of the sticks, Thomas ensuring a 6-0 lead after 20 minutes.

With Wigan building pressure in the opposition half, the Orrell No.7 took advantage of play having moved on and set about Chris Carr with a flurry of punches.

Carr retaliated and in the ensuing melee both sides set about each other.

Once the sides were separated, the referee tried to make sense of what had happened, and sent Carr to the sin bin for 10 minutes and dismissed Danny Cassidy off for a headbutt, in what was a moment of madness from the Wigan stand-off.

Down to 13 men, Wigan re-focussed and came into their own.

Captain Sam Gee took the game by the scruff of the neck, and created a try from nothing with a deft chip over the defensive line, which was quickly chased down by Jack Proffit.

Joss Parker added the conversion to give the home side a 7-6 lead at the interval.

Carr returned to the fray looking bloody and battered after his break, but he was clearly determined to see things right.

And a move off the back of the scrum found Carr hitting the line at pace, and he broke from 35 yards to score Wigan’s second, with Parker adding the conversion.

With 20 minutes of the game remaining, Wigan remained in control and set about racking up the tries needed for a bonus point.

Will Boardman came into the centres and timed a run to perfection, breaking the line and going over for Wigan’s third touchdown.

And Wigan’s fourth and final try came five minutes from time, Carr finding space down the left-hand side before running over the top of the full-back and scoring close to the posts.

Parker added the conversion for a 26-6 bonus point victory.

Elsewhere, Thornton Cleveleys could only draw with Bury, meaning Wigan top the table with huge fixtures against Garstang and Thornton Cleveleys in the coming weeks to look forward to.