ESL Round 15 Report - Monday Game

Winning start for Wigan boss Millward

Ian Millward enjoyed a winning start to his reign as Wigan boss as the Warriors claimed a confidence-boosting 34-20 victory over struggling Salford at the Willows.

With the ailing Giants having lost five of their last six Super League games, the pressure was on former St Helens chief Millward to make an instant impact.

And the Australian did not fail to deliver as two tries from Brett Dallas and a 14-point haul for Danny Tickle helped condemn Salford to a fifth straight defeat.

The win puts Wigan back up to sixth in the table although Millward will surely still be aware of just how big a task he is facing to recapture the club's glory days.

Salford twice went ahead in the first half thanks to a brace of tries from Andy Coley, the prop capitalising on a wicked bounce from a kick through early on and later barging over from close range.

However, Tickle had crashed through some poor Salford tackling in between and the Warriors took control with two quick tries close to the interval.

Aussie winger Dallas scampered over for his 10th try of the season after some good work from compatriot Dennis Moran.

And the scrum-half was again the provider when his neat grubber-kick was collected by Kevin Brown, who put his side in front for the first time.

Tickle converted both tries, one bouncing over off the crossbar from a touchline strike, to somehow leave the visitors six points ahead at the interval despite having been on the back foot for much of the half.

Great Britain full-back Kris Radlinski extended the lead further when scrambling over in the corner just two minutes after the break and Tickle made it a 12-point margin with another touchline conversion.

Wigan centre Stephen Wild quickly added a scrappy try only for Salford winger Anthony Stewart to repay the compliment when stripping the ball off Martin Aspinwall over the line.

The Reds could have made a real game of it had Robinson managed to collect a deflected pass from sub John Clough with the line at his mercy.

But the game was as good as over when, with just over 15 minutes left, Dallas burst on to a superb inside ball from Moran and raced over from the halfway line for the best score of the match.

Salford captain Malcolm Alker gave the home side something to cheer about when he pounced on a rare lapse in concentration from Radlinski but any thoughts of a fightback were cut short when a Tickle penalty put Wigan 14 points clear.

Salford: Hodgson, Stewart, Littler, McAvoy, Hartley, Beverley, Robinson, Stringer, Alker, Rutgerson, Coley, Shipway, Charles. Replacements: Highton, Haggerty, Langi, Clough.

Wigan: Radlinski, Dallas, Aspinwall, Wild, Carney, Brown, Moran, Seu Seu, Newton, Sculthorpe, Guisset, Hansen, Tickle. Replacements: Godwin, Hargreaves, Tomkins, Gleeson.

Salford: (10) 20. Tries: Coley 2, Stewart, Alker. Goals: Charles 2.

Wigan: (16) 34. Tries: Tickle, Dallas 2, Brown, Radlinski, Wild. Goals: Tickle 5.

Referee: Richard Silverwood (Dewsbury) Att: 5,526

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Thanks to http://www.superleague.co.uk/ for another great article.