Wigan staged the most remarkable comeback in play-off history to snatch a 31-30 victory in their engage Super League elimination clash at Odsal and bring Bradford's season to a sudden and dramatic end.

The Warriors looked down and out when they trailed 30-6 after an hour but a hat-trick of tries from winger Mark Calderwood enabled them to draw level and full-back Pat Richards edged his side in front for the first time with a drop goal four minutes from the end.

Wigan, who only secured the last place in the play-off series thanks to a shock last-day victory over St Helens, will now fancy their chances of going all the way to Old Trafford.

They will face another away game, against Hull or Huddersfield in next Saturday's semi-final, but will fear no one after Fridays astonishing display of never-say-die courage.

There was no hint of the drama to come, however, as a hat-trick of tries from New Zealand Test forward David Solomona put Bradford in complete command.

The Bulls looked full of enthusiasm and dominated for an hour, shaking off the disappointment of losing prop forward Chris Feather with a dislocated right shoulder.

The former Leeds and Wakefield player, who only recently came back from a broken ankle, went off after 25 minutes and was taken to hospital at half-time.

Also without captain Paul Deacon, who remains troubled by a hamstring injury, the Bulls still had plenty of game-breakers, especially the classy Solomona, who scored the game's first try after only three minutes.

Prop Andy Lynch's smart offload created the opening and the former Wakefield second rower brushed off Calderwood's attempted tackle before wrong-footing full-back Richards to claim his 12th try of the season.

Iestyn Harris, who took over both the scrum-half and goalkicking duties from Deacon, added the conversion to put the Bulls 6-0 up and they went on to establish a stranglehold on the game.

Full-back Michael Platt had to get back to make safe a dangerous kick from Richards during a rare moment of danger for the home defence while Wigan had a let-off when Bradford winger Tame Tupou hacked ahead following more good work from Solomona but miscued the ball into touch.

It was no surprise, though, when Bradford extended their lead on 22 minutes, courtesy of a couple of fumbles from Calderwood.

He conceded possession by failing to deal with Iestyn Harris' grubber punt and then lost the ball from Terry Newton's high kick, allowing Tupou to touch down for a soft try.

Harris' second goal, this time from near the touchline, made it 12-0 but Wigan gave themselves hope when Trent Barrett's long pass exposed a gap on the Bradford right and centre David Vaealiki burst clear to send Thomas Leuluai over.

The Warriors faced an uphill task when Solomona forced his way over the line eight minutes before the break and, although Wigan hooker Mick Higham looked to have got his body under the ball, video referee Phil Bentham gave him the benefit of the doubt.

There was no doubt over the next try, with Solomona taking Iestyn Harris' pass and stretching out of a tackle to plant the ball on the line to register his first hat-trick for the Bulls.

The match looked to be over as a contest within three minutes of the restart when Bradford scored a fifth try.

Acting captain Glenn Morrison, making a useful contribution in his makeshift role of stand-off, burst through the first line of defence and centre Ben Harris was in support to send Iestyn Harris over.

The Welsh international added the conversion and shortly afterwards made it 30-6 with a penalty after Wigan captain had been placed on report for a high tackle on him.

When Calderwood went over for Wigan's second try on 56 minutes, it looked to be nothing more than consolation but the visitors managed to retain possession and, with Barrett enjoying more and more influence, they piled on the pressure.

Barrett's long pass got Calderwood over for his second try five minutes later and the Australian stand-off was again the provider when second rower Harrison Hansen smashed through the Bradford defence on 65 minutes.

The Bulls were then pressing for the killer blow when Calderwood snapped up a casual pass from Shontayne Hape and sprinted 80 metres to complete his hat-trick.

Richards maintained his 100% record by kicking his fifth goal to level the scores and he edged his side in front for the first time four minutes from the end with a drop goal.