engage Super League Rd 24 Review

Wigan Warriors 20 (Ashton, Vaealiki, Calderwood tries; Dobson 4 goals) def. Leeds Rhinos 18 (Gibson 2, Kirke, Lauiti?iti; Sinfield 1 goal). Att: 15,066.

Wigan gave themselves a great chance of Super League survival with a vital win over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

The Warriors, who last Monday were docked two points for salary-cap breaches in 2005, took the early lead with a David Vaealiki score. Leeds hit back with two tries from both of their substitutes Ali Lauiti?iti and Ian Kirke. A Mick Dobson penalty goal on the half time hooter cut the Rhinos lead to 10-6 at the break.

In the early stages of the second half the hosts extended their lead when Ashley Gibson scored in at the corner but Wigan hit back in style and tries from Chris Ashton and ex-Leeds winger Mark Calderwood gave the visitors a 20-14 lead with 10 minutes left.

On 76 minutes, Gibson scored his second try but Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield?s touchline conversation kick hit the post as the Warriors held on for the narrow victory. For the Rhinos they suffered their fifth defeat on the bounce, their worst run for 10 years.

Salford City Reds 35 (Coley 2, Haggerty, Finnigan, Robinson, Moule tries; Hodgson 5 goals; Dunemann field goal) def. Warrington Wolves 34 (Grose 2, Briers, Sullivan, Bridge, Wood tries; Briers 5 goals). Att: 5,016.

Salford City Reds clinched their third win over Warrington Wolves this season, by the narrowest of margins at the Willows.

The Wolves led 14-12 at the break thanks to tries from Lee Briers and Paul Wood. Salford?s tries came from Simon Finnigan and Gareth Haggerty.

Warrington stretched their advantage to 22-12 with a Chris Bridge try and a penalty from skipper Briers. However, the Reds ran in four tries during a blistering 18-minute spell.

The visitor?s hit back through Michael Sullivan and Brent Grose but an Andrew Dunemann drop-goal kept the Reds clear to give them the two competition points.

Harlequins R.L. 28 (Randall 2, Dorn, Hopkins, Smith tries; Paul 4 goals) def. Bradford Bulls 26 (Vainikolo, Bai, Hape, Deacon, Ferres tries; Deacon 3 goals). Att: 3,793.

Harlequins eased their relegation worries, and more or less retained their Super League status with a shock victory over Bradford Bulls at the Twickenham Stoop.

The Bulls got off to a dream start with two early tries from Lesley Vainikolo and Marcus Bai. However, the hosts hit back and scored three tries in five minutes by Luke Dorn, Lee Hopkins and Chad Randall to give them a 22-14 lead at half-time.

Tyrone Smith's try after the break was Quins' final score as Bradford laid siege in the hosts twenty for the rest of the game. Paul Deacon and Brett Ferres scored for the Bulls to close the gap but Henry Paul's kicking proved to be the decisive factor.

St Helens 72 (Wellens 2, Long 2, Lyon 2, Sculthorpe, Cayless, Talau, Roby, Wilkin, Fa'asavalu tries; Lyon 12 tries) def. Castleford Tigers 4 (Viane try). Att: 6,369.

St Helens are now within touching distance of the League leaders shield after trashing a hapless Castleford Tigers at the Jungle.

This match was well over as a contest by half time as the Saints ripped apart the Tigers to lead 36-0 with six converted tries. It was much of the same in the second half as the visitors added six more.

Paul Sculthorpe and Sean Long both scored twice and Jamie Lyon contributed 32 points with two tries and twelve conversations. The Tigers did manage to trouble the scoreboard with a late consolation from Gray Viane.

Hull F.C. 26 (G Horne, Briscoe, McMenemy, Tony tries; Cooke 5 goals) def. Huddersfield Giants 12 (Jones, Raleigh tries; De Vere 2 goals). Att: 6,189.

Hull F.C. cemented second place with a comfortable win over Huddersfield Giants at the Galpharm Stadium.

Motu Tony scored the first try for the visitors, with Shayne McMenemy's try and Paul Cooke's kicking giving them a 14-0 half-time lead. Graham Horne added another try for the Black and Whites before Stuart Jones and Andy Raleigh touched down for the Giants.

Shaun Briscoe's late try killed off any slim hopes of a Huddersfield revival as Hull made it 15 wins out of 16 games.

Wakefield Wildcats 34 (Rooney 3, Atkins, Demetriou tries; Rooney 7 goals) def. Catalans Dragons 14 (Hughes, Jones tries; Jones 3 goals). Att: 3,324.

Wakefield Wildcats kept alive their survival hopes with an easy win over Catalans Dragons at Belle Vue.

Man of the Match Jamie Rooney stole the show for the hosts by scoring a hat-trick and kicking seven goals. Jason Demetriou and Ryan Atkins went over when Catalans had two players in the sin bin, and Rooney's first try gave Wakefield a comfortable half-time lead. At 20-2.

Mark Hughes gave the visitors some hope but the Wildcats stepped up a gear to clinch a vital victory and put the pressure back on Wigan.