WARRINGTON trail 6-4 at the break in a hard-fought ‘derby’ clash with Wigan.

Enjoying the rub of the green early on, Wigan took the lead within three minutes when Cameron Phelps touched down and Pat Richards converted.

But Wolves enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession for much of the half and pulled a try back when Matt King touched down Lee Briers’ high kick just before the break.

Wigan made a strong start but one that had more to do with chance than actual design.

The platform was set when Garreth Carvell allowed the kick off to bounce straight over his head and out behind the posts. It was an opportunity the visitors could not waste.

Warriors piled on the pressure and in consecutive sets, the kick on the final tackle was charged down – Adrian Morley blocking Sean O’Loughlin’s effort and Carvell stopping Thomas Leuluai’s grubber – only for the loose ball to fall fortunately into Wigan hands.

Unable to hold out, Wolves finally succumbed when Briers failed to deal with Sam Tomkins’ neat grubber and Cameron Phelps touched down. Pat Richards tagged on the extras.

Struggling to get out of their own 30-metre zone, Warrington survived another couple of scares as two potential tries were referred to the video referee.

Good defensive work from Richie Mathers saw him get his body under Joel Tomkins to hold the back-rower up over the line, while Richards knocked on a Leuluai kick before Amos Roberts touched down.

Wolves recovered enough to dominate a large chunk of the first half, pinning Wigan back in their own 20.

But having ball is not good enough if you cannot convert your chances and they were simply unable to make the visitors pay.

Chris Bridge showed some good signs, stepping his way through the defence on a couple of occasions, while Ben Westwood and Carvell were both tackled right in front of the line.

The best chance came when Warrington built numbers on the right flank. Briers floated a decent-looking kick out to King but the ball brushed his fingertips before sailing out of bounds.

It appeared the break would never come until Wolves worked that combination again before the break.

This time King was safe and houses under Briers’ kick, plucking it from the air to touch down.