Two sides whose quarter year report reads ‘could do better’ met at the Leigh Sports Village on Easter Saturday as the Rivals round pitched
the Leigh Leopards against the Warrington Wolves as sixth hosted eighth.
A win would lift Leigh into fourth above St Helens and Leeds
Rhinos, a win for the Wolves would see them take Leigh’s sixth spot pushing the
Leopards out of the six.
Leigh were slight favourites with the bookies, handicapped
by two points on the coupon, but the promise was for a close match between two
sides both desperate for the points to keep them in touch with the sides at the
top of the table.
Warrington took an early lead on eight minutes through the
boot of Marc Sneyd, slotting over a penalty after a high tackle, an early
indication that points were expected to be at a premium.
On thirteen Leigh had a try scrubbed by the video referee
for an obstruction in the build-up.
The Leopards thought that they were in on twenty-five as Lachlan
Lam twice kicked the ball forwards before chasing into goal and grounding one-handed,
but the video referee again ruled out the try for offside.
As the hour approached Zane Musgrove shook off one tackle
five short of the line to go over under the sticks only to be held up by a last-ditch
defence from Leigh, the video referee unable to find the evidence to overrule
referee Tom Grants live call of NO TRY. Still just the two points between the
sides.
Seven minutes from the interval Leigh did finally get their noses
in front, Lam stepping inside and finding a gap before passing to Edwin Ipape who
went over from a couple of metres out to stretch and ground. Gareth O’Brien
added the conversion to give his side a 6-2 lead.
Three minutes after the restart, Leigh went in for their
second try of the game as Ethan O’Neill took a pass from Lam five from the
line, again stretching to dot down on the line. O’Brien was on target for the
second time, the Leopards ten points ahead.
The lead stretched still further just before the hour, Frankie
Halton going through a massive gap off an O’Brien pass to score without a Warrington
hand laid upon him. O’Brien added the conversion for 18-2, Leigh looking beyond
any Wolves fightback.
But the fightback started two minutes later as Toby King collected
a deft Sneyd grubber to touch down behind the sticks with ease. Sneyd added the
extra two for 8-18.
Eleven minutes from time the Wolves got themselves back
within striking distance of the Leopards. Great acceleration from Matt Dufty
saw him break for forty metres before passing out to Ashton to cover the last
twenty metres to score. Sneyd added the conversion, and the gap was four points
with ten minutes to play.
Last ditch defence from Leigh saved the day as they managed
to repel the Warrington onslaught to take the two points which lifts them up to
fourth in the table. Warrington remain in eighth but with the Catalans Dragons
favourites to overcome the Salford Red Devils in the last game of the round there
was every chance that they would finish the weekend in ninth. A good solid Leigh
performance to secure the win despite the spirited fightback.
Leigh Leopards: Armstrong, McIntosh, Hodgson, Brand, Charnley,
O’Brien (G 3/3), Lam, Trout, Ipape (T), Mulhern, O’Neill (T), Halton (T), Liu.
Subs: Pene, Tuitavake, Davis, Hughes. 18th Man: McNamara.
Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Thewlis, Tai, King (T), Ashton (T),
Walker, Sneyd (G 3/3), Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Russell, Fitzgibbon, Currie. Subs: Philbin, Crowther, Musgrove, Wood. 18th
Man: Holroyd.
Half-Time: 6-2.
Full-Time: 18-14.
Score Progression: 0-2, 4-2, 6-2 : HT: 10-2, 12-2, 16-2,
18-2, 18-6, 18-8, 18-12, 18-14 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Warrington - Leigh.
Referee: Tom Grant.
