A win would do little to improve either sides league position, but would do a great deal more for team moral and aspirations for the remainder of the season, as we head towards the half way point in Super League XXIV.

Eighth placed Wigan Warriors needed to win by fifty-five points or more to go above the Salford Red Devils, whereas the London Broncos, currently propping up the table, needed a forty-two point winning margin to claw themselves ahead of Hull KR.

All the smart money was on more misery for Danny Ward’s travelling London Broncos, but Wigan were fragile enough in 2019 to be worried about every match they play.

The opening score came from the boot of Kieran Dixon after Wigan were penalised for holding on in the tackle twenty metres from their own line. The penalty decision demonstrated that from five minutes in, London were going to take the points wherever they could.

On sixteen Jake Shorrocks made London pay for being unable to clear their lines from an extended period of pressure. The scrum half took the pass and from a standing start he outpaced the Broncos defence to round and score under the sticks. Zak Hardaker added the conversion for a 6-2 lead.

London struck back on nineteen when Jay Pitts won the race to ground a delightful grubber from Jordan Abdull to level the scores. Dixon added the conversion for an 8-6 lead. The Broncos were giving as good as they were getting, the Warriors were in a game and they knew it.

Wigan were back in front on forty-seven thanks to a defensive mix-up from London when Elliott Kear dropped the ball as first receiver from the back of the scrum allowing Chris Hankinson to pick up the ball and walk over the line for the four-pointer. Hardaker added the conversion for a 12-8 lead.

A delightful George Williams grubber was collected by a sliding Morgan Escare over the try line. The stand-in winger regained his feet and went behind the sticks to give Hardaker a simple conversion and establish some daylight between the two sides.

As London played catch-up they began to force the pass, make the error, and give away some silly penalties.

A great break by Dixon on seventy-five  was the last hurrah and should have seen London get back within range but his pass to James Cunningham wasn’t taken in and went to ground, the game now beyond the Broncos.

It was a poor spectacle between two sides who are struggling for form and consistency. There was nothing to choose betweem them in the opening forty and it was just a London error, and an inspired moment from George Williams, which gave Wigan the win and another two points in their quest to make the play off positions. London will need to start picking up some league points soon or their stay in the top flight will be very short lived.

Warriors: Hardaker (3G), Marshall, Hankinson (T), Gildart, Escare (T), Williams, Shorrocks (T), Flower, Leuluai, Bullock, Isa, Greenwood, Smithies.  Subs: O’Loughlin, Tautai, Powell, Navarrete.

Broncos: Walker, Dixon (2G), Morgan, Kear, Williams, Abdull, Smith, Battye, Cunningham, Butler, Pitts (T), Lovell, Yates.  Subs: Richards, Hindmarsh, Adebiyi, Pelissier.

Referee: Robert Hicks.

Half-Time: 6-8.

Full-Time: 18-8. 

Attendance: .