Wigan demonstrated breathtaking brilliance to return to the top of the Stobart Super League with a 42-16 win over St Helens on Sunday, but the final game of 'Magic Weekend' will best be remembered for an all-in brawl which produced three red cards.
The Warriors had forwards Gareth Hock and Chris Tuson sent off by referee Ben Thaler, along with Saints substitute Shaun Magennis, after they were ruled largely responsible for the fighting that erupted at a scrum in the 53rd minute.
Wigan were leading 34-6 at the time and managed to hang on with 11 men for a comfortable victory that brought down the curtain on the two-day jamboree at Manchester's Etihad Stadium in sensational fashion.
The double-chasing Warriors were simply unstoppable as they swept aside their arch rivals for the third time in two months to extend their winning run in all matches to 10.
Poor Saints were once more no match for the 2010 champions, who continue to exact sweet revenge for last September's play-off defeat.
Winger Josh Charnley, Super League's top tryscorer, scored two of his side's eight touchdowns to take his tally for the season to 20 and make up for
Full-back Sam Tomkins also bagged two, while Hock, Sean O'Loughlin George Carmont and Liam Farrell scored further Wigan tries.
Paul Clough, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Paul Wellens crossed for St Helens.
Earlier in the day Salford prop Adam Sidlow trebled his try tally for the season to condemn one-time leaders Huddersfield to a third consecutive defeat in a classic contest.
Sidlow, who scored his first try of the season in last week's 20-20 draw with Bradford, grabbed two in the final quarter to settle a pulsating encounter in which the lead changed hands six times before the Reds won 38-34.
Salford's first win in four games, which keeps alive their outside play-off hopes, was tough on Huddersfield's prop forward Eorl Crabtree, who matched Sidlow's scoring feats with two tries in a three-minute spell that looked to have turned the game his side's way.
In a team full of heroes, Salford were particularly indebted to veteran full-back Luke Patten, whose attacking flair proved to be a constant thorn in Huddersfield's side all day, and two-try centre Joel Moon.
Danny McGuire produced a five-try haul as champions Leeds saw off Bradford 37-22.
The 29-year-old half-back single-handedly pulled his side back from the brink of another defeat that would have left them stranded outside the top eight.
So patchy has been their form this season that coach Brian McDermott this week claimed to be in a state of panic - an understandable feeling ahead of meetings with the top two of Warrington and Wigan.
That meant that defeat here was unthinkable and fortunately for the Rhinos, even at 18-6 down, McGuire was the coolest man inside a red-hot Etihad Stadium, taking his career tally of tries against the Bulls to 20 as well as setting up Carl Ablett for another as Leeds continued their record of winning every Magic Weekend fixture they have played in.
Title-chasing Catalan Dragons made perfect use of the home-from-home conditions at their disposal in Manchester as they ran in seven tries to see off London Broncos 42-18 and cement their top-four spot.
The Perpignan-based club are no strangers to playing in red-hot sunshine and temperatures at the Etihad were distinctly Mediterranean as day two got under way.
Trent Robinson's men had looked set for a runway victory at one stage - they led 24-0 at half-time - but were eventually made to work harder than that as London came back to within six points at one stage.
Lopini Paea, Remi Casty (2), Leon Pryce (2), Steve Menzies and Jamal Fakir all crossed for the French side, while Scott Dureau added seven goals.
London repsonded through tries from Chad Randall, Ben Bolger and Antonio Kaufusi - all converted by Shane Rodney - but it was not enough.
On Saturday, winger David Hodgson struck in the last move of the match to give Hull KR a dramatic 32-30 victory over Hull FC and maintain their 100 per cent record over their arch rivals in the Magic Weekend.
The Black and Whites looked to be cruising to victory when they led 30-16 after 65 minutes thanks to tries from Tony Martin, Willie Manu, Brett Seymour, Jordan Turner and Richard Horne - all converted by Danny Tickle.
But the Robins hit back with three late tries, one of them a highly-controversial touchdown, to claim a third win in four games.
Winger Sam Latus sparked the late fightback while scrum-half Michael Dobson scored from what looked like a forward pass before Hodgson, fresh from his four-try feat against Castleford, beat two men on a thrilling 60-metre run to score his second try of the match.
Widnes announced the signing of Kevin Brown before the game with Warrington but the good news stopped there, the Wolves running in 11 tries in a 68-4 win.
It was the biggest winning margin in the history of the Magic Weekend with Joel Monaghan crossing for five tries and Matty Blythe three.
Ryan Atkins, Stefan Ratchford, Ben Currie and Garreth Carvell also crossed, while Gareth O'Brien kicked 10 goals.
A second-half score from Kurt Haggerty was all the Vikings had to show for their efforts.
In the opening game of the weekend, Australian scrum-half Tim Smith scored his second try since making his Wakefield debut three months ago to help his side to a 32-26 victory over Castleford in an 11-try feast.
The Tigers thought they had snatched the points when substitute forward Nathan Massey went over three minutes from the end but the try was disallowed by video referee James Child for offside.
Smith then immediately went over for the Wildcats' sixth try to settle the first of seven games at the Etihad Stadium played in energy-sapping sunshine.
Richie Mathers, Danny Washbrook, Steve Southern, Vince Mellars and Peter Fox also crossed for the Wildcats, who led 24-20 at the break, with Paul Sykes adding four conversions.
Nick Youngquest, Stuart Jones, Danny Orr, Oliver Holmes and Jordan Thompson claimed tries for Cas, but in the end they fell just short.
