WARRINGTON WOLVES 42 LEIGH LEOPARDS 6
DAVID KUZIO, Halliwell Jones Stadium, Saturday

WARRINGTON stormed to the top of the Super League ladder with a dominant performance over Leigh – who were pushed to the very foot by this thrashing.

The home side opened the scoring after two minutes, and despite Leigh grabbing a small foothold in the game, an interception try from Matty Ashton broke their spirit and there was only going to be one winner after that.

From the kick-off, Danny Walker made two breaks and Toby King went close but tripped over his own feet. A Marc Sneyd kick was caught by Ben Currie, and he then found Sam Stone, who sent Josh Smith over in the corner.

Sneyd’s conversion hit the upright and bounced over for a 6-0 lead, the first of seven goals from eight attempts on his recall.

Despite conceding so early, the Leopards looked like they were growing into the game but a poor pass from Gareth O’Brien was intercepted by Ashton and the winger raced 70 yards to score.

George Williams, Sneyd and Walker were calling the shots for Warrington with the latter taking advantage of the quick rucks. Ashton then blew a great chance to get his second as he dropped the ball, following great work from Sneyd and James Bentley, who was making his Super League debut for the Wolves after two Challenge Cup outings.

Leigh were poor in attack and King almost capitalised, but he dropped the ball before touching down. 

Warrington were relentless and on the back of a penalty they marched up field and Bentley grabbed his first try for the club as he forced his way over following great work from King and Williams.

Sam Burgess’ men were in the mood to score points. James Harrison was punching holes up the middle and fellow sub Joe Philbin was on hand to grab their fourth try after a sublime kick from Sneyd. 

Another successful Sneyd conversion saw the Wolves virtually out of sight, 24-0 at half-time. 

Warrington started the second half strongly as well, with both Walker and Harrison continuing to cause problems. 

The opening score of the second period came from the boot of Sneyd as he slotted over a penalty after Smith made a break from his own half. 

A short restart allowed Leigh to launch a rare attack at Warrington’s line, but it came to nothing as debutant Will Brough, son of Super League great Danny, was held just short on the last tackle. 

The Leopards were better in the second half, but they just did not have that killer instinct going forward.

Warrington ensured they punished Leigh with their fifth try of the game, Williams stepping inside and racing away untouched to score in the 55th minute.

This was not Leigh’s afternoon and Ashton grabbed his second in the corner, after which Sneyd missed his sole conversion of the day. 

Leigh did finally manage to get a consolation try in the 64th minute. A 40/20 from O’Brien put them in a great position and Adam Cook collected a short ball to score. Cook also converted, but they trailed 36-6.

And Wire had the final say as Sam Powell ended the scoring with a trademark scoot from acting half seven minutes from time.

GAMESTAR: At least seven Warrington players could have won this award, but James Harrison did big minutes in the middle and was a handful all afternoon.

GAMEBREAKER: It might have been early on, but the interception try from Matty Ashton in the twelfth minute took the wind out of Leigh’s sails as they looked to be growing into the game.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Everything about Josh Smith’s try was excellent – Marc Sneyd’s kick, Ben Currie’s quick-thinking and Sam Stone’s looping ball.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts James Harrison (Warrington)
2 pts Danny Walker (Warrington)
1 pt Matty Ashton (Warrington)

MATCHFACTS

WOLVES
2 Josh Thewlis
5 Matty Ashton
3 Toby King
4 Albert Hopoate
26 Josh Smith
6 George Williams
7 Marc Sneyd
21 Luke Thomas
9 Danny Walker
16 Liam Byrne
12 Sam Stone
20 James Bentley
13 Ben Currie
Subs (all used)
10 James Harrison
14 Sam Powell
17 Jordy Crowther
22 Joe Philbin
18th man (not used)
32 Ewan Smith
Also in 21-man squad
8 Luke Yates
18 Ewan Irwin
35 Lachlan Webster

Tries: J Smith (2), Ashton (12, 58), Bentley (26), Philbin (35), Williams (55), Powell (73)
Goals: Sneyd 7/8

LEOPARDS
21 Gareth O’Brien
19 Innes Senior
15 Jacob Alick-Wiencke
29 Will Brough (D)
5 Josh Charnley
6 Adam Cook
7 Lachlan Lam
14 Aaron Pene
24 Ben McNamara
10 Robbie Mulhern
11 Frankie Halton
12 Owen Trout
13 Isaac Liu
Subs (all used)
8 Joe Ofahengaue
16 Matt Davis
17 Liam Horne
25 Louis Brogan
18th man (not used)
28 Ryan Brown
Also in 21-man squad
2 Keanan Brand
3 Tesi Niu
22 Jack Hughes

Tries: Cook (64)
Goals: Cook 1/1

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 18-0, 24-0; 26-0, 32-0, 36-0, 36-6, 42-6

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Wolves: James Harrison; Leopards: Matt Davis

Penalty count: 6-4
Half-time: 24-0
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
Attendance: 11,026