LEIGH LEOPARDS 20 WARRINGTON WOLVES 16
DAVE PARKINSON, Leigh Sports Village, Friday
LEIGH left it late to win one of the best Super League games of the season, with England hopeful Owen Trout grounding the ball for the all-important try in the 78th-minute.
The in-form Leopards trailed for the majority of the game – including by twelve points with a quarter of an hour left – as Warrington, after a contrastingly poor run of performances, produced one of their best efforts of the year.
But Leigh’s late, late show puts them back within a point of rivals Wigan in second, while the Wolves have much work still to do to salvage their season.
A strong Warrington effort saw them on the front foot from early on when Marc Sneyd teased a couple of errors from Leopards fullback Bailey Hodgson, who to his credit recovered well with two or three sparkling runs of his own.
In the eleventh minute Connor Wrench left the field for an ultimately failed head-injury assessment, with Australian Ryan Matterson taking the field for his debut earlier than expected and impressing with his workload.
When more fine Sneyd kicking saw Keanan Brand trapped in-goal and Leigh dropped out from their own goal-line, a high tackle from Leigh’s Joe Ofahengaue on Sam Powell was punished and Sneyd stepped up to boot the Wolves to a 20th-minute lead.
A break from Hodgson put Leigh on the front foot and when Matterson hit Isaac Liu after he passed the ball, Gareth O’Brien levelled with the ensuing penalty.
The Wolves responded with a scintillating try from their own 20 metres as Josh Thewlis surged through the middle, leaving a host of defenders clutching at air, before finding Matt Dufty to go under the posts.
Sneyd converted and, after getting involved in a skirmish with Umyla Hanley, the halfback had a field-goal attempt charged down as they stayed 2-8 ahead at the break.
A penalty from Sneyd extended that Warrington lead after eight minutes of the second half, and then just two minutes later Jake Thewlis touched down a George Williams kick after Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Toby King made the most of a loose ball to make it 2-14.
And that advantage could have been even greater, with the Wolves looking lively in attack and Williams linking superbly with Dufty only for the fullback to be denied a second score due to an obstruction.
At the other end, Gareth O’Brien then slid a kick in and the outstretched arm of Hanley touched down after 66 minutes.
That didn’t appear to be the start of a winning fightback as a high tackle on Jake Thewlis saw Sneyd go for goal and increase the Warrington advantage to eight points.
King then also saw a try disallowed by the video referee, before the Leopards went straight down the other end and Hanley scored for a second time.
O’Brien’s conversion pulled the game back to 14-16 heading into the last five minutes, and belief surged.
Leigh roared forward and had the tackle count restarted before Trout crashed over amid a melee of players for the match-winner.
O’Brien goaled and they defended a threatening attack at the end to take the points.
GAMESTAR: Despite finishing on the losing side, Marc Sneyd had this game on a lead for the most part, although Leigh’s never-say-die attitude won through in the end.
GAMEBREAKER: Owen Trout’s late try.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Josh Thewlis weaved through the Leigh defence to set up Matt Dufty for a thrilling first-half try.
ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Marc Sneyd (Warrington)
2 pts Bailey Hodgson (Leigh)
1 pt Tesi Niu (Leigh)
MATCHFACTS
LEOPARDS
24 Bailey Hodgson
18 Keanan Brand
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
5 Josh Charnley
6 Gareth O’Brien
7 Lachlan Lam
8 Owen Trout
9 Edwin Ipape
32 Joe Ofahengaue
11 Frankie Halton
12 Jack Hughes
13 Isaac Liu
Subs (all used)
15 Alec Tuitavake
16 Matt Davis
21 Andy Badrock
22 Ben McNamara
18th man (not used)
29 AJ Towse
Also in 21-man squad
10 Robbie Mulhern
17 Brad Dwyer
20 Ethan O’Neill
Tries: Hanley (66, 74), Trout (78)
Goals: O’Brien 4/4
WOLVES
1 Matt Dufty
2 Josh Thewlis
20 Connor Wrench
3 Toby King
28 Jake Thewlis
6 George Williams
35 Marc Sneyd
13 Luke Yates
14 Sam Powell
10 Paul Vaughan
38 Sam Stone
12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon
11 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
15 Joe Philbin
40 Ryan Matterson (D)
24 Max Wood
9 Danny Walker
18th man (not used)
27 Luke Thomas
Also in 21-man squad
7 Leon Hayes
41 Ewan Smith
19 Stefan Ratchford
Tries: Dufty (32), Jake Thewlis (50)
Goals: Sneyd 4/5
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-2, 2-2, 2-8; 2-10, 2-14, 8-14, 8-16, 14-16, 20-16
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Leopards: Bailey Hodgson; Wolves: Marc Sneyd
Penalty count: 3-5
Half-time: 2-8
Referee: Liam Moore
Attendance: 9,364