Paul Vaughan leads Warrington Wolves back to Wembley as Leigh Leopards fall short

WARRINGTON WOLVES 21 LEIGH LEOPARDS 14
DAVID KUZIO, Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens, Sunday

MARC SNEYD will grab all the headlines thanks to nine points from the boot on his return, but he can thank Paul Vaughan for laying the platform as Warrington returned to Wembley for the second year running.

Sneyd – named in the team little more than two weeks after fracturing an eye socket – was outstanding for the Wolves, but Vaughan ran his blood to water and was rewarded with a try as Warrington joined Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final.

Leigh got off to a dream start as Edwin Ipape charged down a kick from Sneyd to put them ahead in the very first minute and with their first possession of the ball.

But that was their only points of the first half, as Gareth O’Brien failed to convert from the touchline.

The Wolves hit back with tries from Rodrick Tai and Vaughan while Sneyd atoned by adding seven points for a 15-4 half-time advantage.

Tai’s try came in the twelfth minute with a well-worked move down the right, in which the ball was spread out and Josh Thewlis headed for the corner before his pass inside was knocked back by Josh Charnley with the PNG man on hand to touch down.

Sneyd converted to put Wire in front and they went back-to-back with some brilliant work from Vaughan. The prop forward initially combined with Sam Powell and when the hooker was stopped close, Vaughan forced his way over from acting halfback, again converted by Sneyd.

Arron Lindop – a surprise inclusion on the bench after starting last week – was introduced to the action in place of Matty Ashton and his first involvement was to help prevent Umyla Hanley crossing in the corner along with Sneyd.

Warrington’s discipline was becoming an issue as they conceded their fourth penalty in 25 minutes with Tai fortunate not to be shown a yellow card for a high shot on David Armstrong.

The Wolves extended their lead with a Sneyd penalty but Leigh were not out of it with Armstrong causing a host of problems, while plaudits have to go to Robbie Mulhern as well as Vaughan for playing big middle minutes in the sunshine.

Matt Dufty should have extended Warrington’s lead even further before the break when he broke clear, only to be thwarted by a great tackle from Armstrong.

The chance to score on the opposite wing also went begging as Ipape intercepted an inside ball from Lindop, and the half would instead close with a Sneyd field-goal.

Leigh almost got off to another try-scoring start in the second half, as the ball went to the right and Hanley made a break before offloading to Armstrong who then found Ipape. It looked like the hooker was going to score under the posts, but he was halted by some amazing cover defending from the Wolves.

The Leopards finally got the points they deserved with a try from nothing. This time they went to the left and Ipape and Lachlan Lam combined to send O’Brien through a massive gap. He kept his composure and turned the ball inside for Tesi Niu to race away and narrow the deficit to seven.

Warrington lost Lachlan Fitzgibbon to injury and the Leopards looked like they were growing in confidence with every passing minute.

Leigh were trying everything to close the gap, but a rushed pass from Hanley sailed into touch instead of to Darnell McIntosh and another chance went begging.

Warrington were screaming for a penalty – and a card – when Owen Trout’s attempted tackle resulted in a nasty head-on-head collision with Thewlis, who was taken off for an HIA, but after a video-referee check it was deemed no foul play had been committed.

The re-introduction of Vaughan saw the Wolves lift their game as he continued to make yards on contact. Stefan Ratchford was taken out off the ball by Ipape as he chased a kick through and they opted to run the penalty, which ended up being the correct decision.

They spread the ball to the left thanks to Ratchford and Dufty, and Toby King was on hand to touch down in the corner as Sneyd converted for 21-8.

Leigh refused to go away, and they hit back immediately with Niu grabbing his second try of the game. O’Brien converted to give them a glimmer of hope, but it wasn’t enough.

GAMESTAR: Paul Vaughan was magnificent for the Wolves in the blazing heat. He drove the ball hard, tackled harder and was rewarded with a try of his own.

GAMEBREAKER: Toby King’s try proved to be the difference and although Leigh scored again afterwards, it gave them the buffer they needed to win the game.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: The try of the game went to Leigh with Lachlan Lam and Edwin Ipape combining to put Gareth O’Brien through a gap before turning the ball back inside for Tesi Niu to race away and score.

MATCHFACTS
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
3 Toby King
4 Roderick Tai
5 Matty Ashton
19 Stefan Ratchford
35 Marc Sneyd
13 Luke Yates
14 Sam Powell
10 Paul Vaughan
21 Adam Holroyd
12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon
11 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
8 James Harrison
15 Joe Philbin
17 Jordy Crowther
33 Arron Lindop
18th man (not used)
16 Zane Musgrove
Also in 21-man squad
18 Oli Leyland
26 Dan Russell
28 Jake Thewlis

Tries: Tai (12), Vaughan (15), King (66)
Goals: Sneyd 4/4
Field-goals: Sneyd (40)

LEOPARDS
1 David Armstrong
2 Darnell McIntosh
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
5 Josh Charnley
6 Gareth O’Brien
7 Lachlan Lam
8 Owen Trout
9 Edwin Ipape
10 Robbie Mulhern
20 Ethan O’Neill
12 Jack Hughes
13 Isaac Liu
Subs (all used)
16 Matt Davis
22 Ben McNamara
24 Bailey Hodgson
32 Joe Ofahengaue
18th man (not used)
15 Alec Tuitavake
Also in 21-man squad
17 Brad Dwyer
19 Lewis Brogan
21 Andy Badrock