Wigan left red-faced at Salford

Hancock had more than an entertaining half hour

Salford Reds 31-30 Wigan Warriors

Salford pulled off one of the shocks of the season when they beat Wigan in a thrilling encounter.

The minnows, plagued by injury problems to regular first-teamers, came back from 22-12 down to end their four-match losing streak.

A hat-trick from right-winger Nick Pinkney acted as the catalyst for the win, although it was a drop goal four minutes from time via the boot of Graham Holroyd which settled the tie.

Wigan withstood early pressure to grab control of the game and open up a 10-point lead at the intereval.

After Wigan old boy Martin Offiah gave Salford a shock lead and Michael Hancock added a second, the visitors fought back through tries from right winger Brett Dallas, scrum-half Adrian Lam and second rower David Furner.

Two tries in three minutes from Pinkney early in the second half changed the complexion of the game.

Things went from bad to worse for Wigan when Ricky Bibey was shown the red card for flattening Salford's Australian second rower Michael Hancock.

Holroyd put over the subsequent penalty to edge Salford in front for the first time in the second half.

Andy Farrell levelled matters with a 40-metre penalty and Wigan regained the lead when speedy winger David Hodgson scorched 70 metres for a glorious try, with Farrell's seventh goal from as many attempts making it 30-24.

But on 71 minutes Pinkney finished off a sparkling handling move to claim a hat-trick, with Holroyd's fifth goal tying the scores once more.

Holroyd then clinched the win with a great kick minutes from the end.

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Salford: Broadbent, Pinkney, Maloney, Hancock, Offiah, Holroyd, Alker, Southern, Brown, Driscoll, Wainwright, Littler, Nicol. Replacements: Arnold, Highton, Coley, Marsh.

Wigan: Radlinski, Dallas, Connolly, Renouf, Hodgson, Johns, Lam, O'Connor, Smith, Cowie, Newton, Furner, Farrell. Replacements: Cassidy, Betts, Johnson, Bibey.

Referee: Russell Smith (Castleford)