Wigan stay top after thrilling draw with St Helens

In a thrilling top-of-the-table contest, Wigan fought back to maintain their dominance over St. Helens, who were closest to winning.

Warriors’ 22-22 draw extended their unbeaten start to the season with a late try thanks to Eva Hunter.

The leaders are one point ahead of Saints, who suffered a close defeat in the Challenge Cup final against Wigan.

In another area, York Valkyrie resurrected on Sunday with a 70-0 win over winless Warrington, while Huddersfield kept pace with the top four with a 32-12 victory over second-bottom Barrow.

Three weeks prior, Warriors had defeated Saints 42-6 in a one-sided Wembley final, but this encounter between the division’s two remaining unbeaten sides turned out to be a true arm-wrestle.

Before Georgia Wilson cut the deficit, Saints went up by 12-0 with the help of Dani McGifford and Chantelle Crowl, but Vicky Whitfield added another try for the hosts, who finished 16-6 at the break.

Before the halfway point of the second half, Wigan responded with a goal through Grace Banks and Anna Davies, but with 12 minutes left, Luci McColm kicked a penalty and headed over to give Saints a six-point lead.

When Leah Clough responded to Tilly Davies’ opening score, second-bottom Barrow made it 20-6 up at the break when the Giants answered with two tries from Amelia Brown and Mollie Iceton.

The gap was shattered by Nicole Stewart’s own try thanks to a Lois Naidole score and a second attempt by Iceton.

Evie Sexton, Emma Kershaw (2), Tamzin Renouf, and Savannah Andrade all scored in the first two games as Warrington, a basement side, had scored 196 points without giving a reply in their previous two games and were now 30-0 up against defending champions York.