A LITTLE under a year ago, Wolves went to the DW Stadium and their mercurial half-back terrorised Wigan.

Many will remember Chris Sandow for his performance that night in a 28-16 Wire victory, but fast forward to Thursday and the boot was on the other foot as George Williams ran rings around the Warrington defence.

However, as good as Williams and his teammates were, The Wire must look at their own shortcomings.

Much like the previous defeat to Salford, they found themselves chasing the game early on after a succession of handling errors. On a crisp, dry night, it cannot be said the conditions played a part in that either.

The defence that served them so well last season seems to have deserted them as Wigan regularly found holes to give themselves a 20-point cushion.

Luck deserted them as well as Harvey Livett looked certain to mark his full debut with a try, only for Joe Westerman’s pass to him to be ruled forward when it looked marginal at best.

The score at that point was 16-0 and could have sparked a comeback, as could Ryan Atkins’ try on the stroke of half time, but the truth is Wolves never looked like reeling their neighbours in.

Brief glimpses of quality, such as well-executed moves to put Rhys Evans and Tom Lineham over, showed they do possess the ability to unlock defences.

In the situation Wolves currently find themselves in, however, glimpses are not enough.

Granted, any side having to do without Chris Hill, Stefan Ratchford and Ben Currie is going to be worse off, but what of Wigan and their injuries.

They arrived at The Halliwell Jones Stadium without a senior winger as well as the likes of John Bateman, Oliver Gildart and Sam Tomkins, but their youngsters handled the pressure with aplomb.

Tony Smith rolled the dice with his selection, dropping Evans and Andre Savelio to the bench and leaving Dec Patton out of the matchday squad altogether, but it did nothing to improve their fortunes.

On the positive side, Livett and Lineham plugged away while Daryl Clark did his best to get Wire on the front foot.

By the end, many of the Wire faithful had left and turned their thoughts to Leigh, another game Smith’s side dare not lose.

INTERESTING NOTES:

. First Super League start for Harvey Livett.

. Wire have lost their last three games against Wigan.

. Matty Blythe’s last Super League start for Wire came at Castleford on July 22 2012.

MATCH FACTS:

Super League Round Four, Thursday, March 9, 2017:

Warrington Wolves…16 Wigan Warriors…38

Wolves: Kurt Gidley; Matty Russell, Matty Blythe, Ryan Atkins, Tom Lineham; Kevin Brown, Harvey Livett; Mike Cooper, Daryl Clark, Ashton Sims, Jack Hughes, Ben Westwood, Joe Westerman. Subs: Brad Dwyer, Joe Philbin, Andre Savelio, Rhys Evans.

Warriors: Morgan Escare; Liam Forsyth, Anthony Gelling, Willie Isa, Liam Marshall; George Williams, Thomas Leuluai; Frank-Paul Nuuausala, Sam Powell, Ben Flower, Joel Tomkins, Liam Farrell, Sean O’Loughlin. Subs: Tony Clubb, Taulima Tautai, Romain Navarrete, Jack Wells.

Scoring: Marshall try, 5mins, 0-4; Gelling try, 15mins, Escare goal, 0-10; Marshall try, 18mins, Escare goal, 0-16; Farrell try, 32mins, 0-20; Atkins try, 39mins, Gidley goal, 6-20; Marshall try, 48mins, Escare goal, 6-26; Wells try, 58mins, Escare goal, 6-32; Evans try, 64mins, Gidley goal, 12-32; Marshall try, 69mins, Escare goal, 12-38; Lineham try, 77mins, 16-38.

Penalties: Wolves 6 Warriors 4

Referee: Ben Thaler

Attendance: 11,250

Man of the match (live blog fan’s poll): Harvey Livett