WOLVES pulled off a memorable result as they entered what many considered to be Wigan’s fortress and tore it down from the inside.

Even though the influential Chris Sandow went off with a hamstring injury, the damage had already been done by the mercurial Australian.

Three times he produced stunning try assists in a first half which saw the visitors completely dominate against a Wigan side that sat level with them at the top of Super League.

If the short pass that put Ben Currie over was impressive and the composure shown to fire out a looping ball for Lineham to score out wide was magical, the weighted kick for Kevin Penny to score with signature acrobatics was downright outrageous.

The home crowd was stunned and the DW Stadium fell silent, save for the 3000-plus jubilant Wire fans in the North Stand.

Then, disaster as Sandow limped from the field and this prompted Wigan to raise their game.

Dom Manfredi, a thorn in the Wire side all evening, crossed for the first of his hat-trick and Joel Tomkins looked to have reduced the deficit further when he dived over on the left edge.

However, the video referee spotted an obstruction by Liam Farrell, who had earlier been sin-binned, and Wigan were still in Wire’s dust.

The visitors regained their composure and Ratchford’s try was a thing of beauty with offloads galore marred by Farrell’s unnecessary contact with the knees, giving Wire a precious eight-pointer.

With the score at 22-4, the hosts needed the next score but Ryan Atkins defied them with the cheekiest of tries.

There was nothing on, he was surrounded by Wigan defenders but he ran off jubilantly claiming a try. He had wriggled free and simply reached down to his toes to score.

Wigan fought back, Manfredi to the fore again to pounce on a Penny mistake before completing his hat-trick to narrow the gap to 10 points and stir the crowd.

Enter Kurt Gidley, the experienced general barked his team round the field as Wolves produced a last quarter full of control and professionalism.

INTERESTING NOTES:

Wolves’ first win at the DW Stadium since 22-20 triumph in March 2012

First try of the season for Stefan Ratchford

Four tries in as many games for Ryan Atkins

50th Super League game between the two sides, 18th Wolves win

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round Nine, Friday, April 1, 2016

Wigan Warriors 16 Warrington Wolves 28

Warriors: Dan Sarginson; Dom Manfredi, Jack Higginson, Oliver Gildart, Josh Charnley; Sean O’Loughlin, Matty Smith; Lee Mossop, Sam Powell, Tony Clubb, Joel Tomkins, Liam Farrell, Willie Isa. Subs: Taulima Tautai, Ryan Sutton, Greg Burke, Nick Gregson

Wolves: Matty Russell; Tom Lineham, Rhys Evans, Ryan Atkins, Kevin Penny; Kurt Gidley, Chris Sandow; Chris Hill, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Currie, Ben Westwood. Subs: Joe Westerman, Stefan Ratchford, George King, Jordan Cox

Scoring: Currie try, 12mins, 0-4; Lineham try, 15mins, 0-8; Penny try, 19mins, 0-12; Ratchford penalty, 26mins, 0-14; Manfredi try, 32mins, 4-14; Ratchford try, 36mins, Gidley goal, 4-20; Gidley penalty, 37mins, 4-22; Atkins try, 44mins, 4-26; Manfredi try, 48mins, Charnley goal, 10-26; Manfredi try, 60mins, Charnley goal, 16-26; Gidley penalty, 70mins, 16-28.

Penalties: Wigan 10 Wolves 6

Referee: Robert Hicks

Attendance: 17,480

Top man: Daryl Clark