Leigh Leopards demolish Catalans Dragons with ease in costly Super League win

LEIGH LEOPARDS 34 CATALANS DRAGONS 6
DAVE PARKINSON, Leigh Sports Village, Friday

LEIGH LEOPARDS made it three wins out of three at the start of the Super League season with a dominant win over Catalans Dragons, with Umyla Hanley claiming a hat-trick.

Reimis Smith, who started at halfback alongside Luke Keary for the Dragons, had a try disallowed in the eighth minute when he was adjudged to have been tackled after regaining his feet on his way to the line.

Catalans went on the attack and Keary was twice involved before Arthur Romano was stopped in the middle of the field and Leigh harried César Rougé on the last for Hanley to take his kick.

And it was that man Hanley that burst through for a 13th minute opener from Lachlan Lam’s pass after a thunderous run from opposite centre Tesi Niu earlier in the set. Gareth O’Brien goaled from wide on the right for a 6-0 lead.

A superb hit from Julian Bousquet dislodged the ball from Hanley and the Dragons flooded forward with Rougé getting through a hole in the defence only for the Dragons to give a penalty away. Leigh marched downfield but an error on the last tackle saw Catalans survive.

And it was from another error that Leigh registered their second of the evening, Keary’s loose pass being scooped up by Owen Trout who reacted quickest to send Keanan Brand away from 70 metres. With the video referee’s confirmation, O’Brien added his second goal to make it 12-0 in the 25th minute.

But the Dragons kept knocking and Ben Garcia was held up over the line after 28 minutes before AJ Towse made some great ground on a kick return, paving the way for Jack Hughes to scythe through a gap for the Leopards’ third try less than a minute later. O’Brien couldn’t convert but Leigh led 16-0.

Try as they might, Catalans couldn’t make sufficient ground when, despite the best efforts of Smith again, former Leigh player Jordan Dezaria had a nightmare five minutes.

The hulking forward first lost the ball in contact before disrupting Towse’s attempt at a quick restart. Dezaria was subsequently sent to the sin bin, though Catalans survived as the hooter sounded with Brand being hauled down.

The break didn’t stem the Leigh tide, however, and five minutes into the second half the hosts struck again. O’Brien dug deep into the line for Lam to find Hanley and he beat three players on his way to the line. O’Brien struck his third goal to move the score to 22-0.

There was a costly blow in the build-up, though, as Alec Tuitavake was forced off with an injury sustained in backfield to add to Robbie Mulhern’s early departure from the field.

The ferocity of the Leopards’ defence saw the Dragons concede a drop-out as Adrian Lam’s men continued to turn the screw with Leigh then punishing a Rougé error.

It was up to O’Brien to find some space and then smuggle the ball out to outstanding Ethan O’Neill for the try that took Leigh more than four scores clear. O’Brien added his fourth goal to stretch the advantage out to 28-0.

Catalans finally opened their account in the 66th minute when Alrix Da Costa poached a try from dummy-half and Tommy Makinson goaled, but that was as good as it got for the Dragons as Leigh reestablished their ascendancy when a flowing move saw Hanley turn on the afterburners for his hat-trick score in the 72nd minute.

O’Brien added his fifth goal of the night to guide Leigh to their 34-6 victory.

GAMESTAR: Ethan O’Neill toiled away in Leigh’s second row.

GAMEBREAKER: O’Neill’s try before the hour took the Leopards to 28-0 and they could enjoy the rest of the game.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Umyla Hanley’s hat-trick score was a flowing move.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Ethan O’Neill (Leigh)
2 pts Lachlan Lam (Leigh)
1 pt Umyla Hanley (Leigh)

MATCHFACTS
LEOPARDS
24 Bailey Hodgson
29 AJ Towse (D)
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
18 Keanan Brand
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)
19 Louis Brogan
15 Alec Tuitavake
16 Matt Davis
17 Brad Dwyer
18th man (not used)
21 Andy Badrock
Also in 21-man squad
1 David Armstrong
22 Ben McNamara
23 Nathan Wilde

Tries: Hanley (14, 45, 72), Brand (24), Hughes (29), O’Neill (59)
Goals: O’Brien 5/6

DRAGONS
18 César Rougé
2 Tommy Makinson
3 Arthur Romano
23 Matthieu Laguerre
5 Nick Cotric
6 Luke Keary
4 Reimis Smith
16 Romain Navarrete
9 Ben Garcia
10 Julian Bousquet
17 Bayley Sironen
12 Elliott Whitehead
13 Oliver Partington
Subs (all used)
11 Tariq Sims
14 Alrix Da Costa
20 Jordan Dezaria
19 Paul Séguier
18th man (not used)
22 Fouad Yaha
Also in 21-man squad
7 Arthur Mourgue
8 Tevita Pangai Jr
24 Franck Maria