LEIGH LEOPARDS secured a comfortable 20-0 victory over Salford Red Devils in game one of Magic Weekend’s Sunday edition.
Adrian Lam’s men started well, forcing back-to-back sets on the Salford line in the opening exchanges.
And the pressure finally told when Edwin Ipape jumped out of acting half to burrow through soft goal-line defence. Zak Hardaker converted from in front for a 6-0 lead.
Leigh were purring and following a high shot from Ethan Ryan on Ricky Leutele, the Salford winger was sinbinned.
It’s fair to say that the Red Devils’ discipline in the first-half was shocking and Brad Singleton was next to sit down for ten minutes after swiping Gareth O’Brien around the head with Salford now down to 11 men.
Salford were in disarray and Leigh finally took advantage of the extra men around the midway point in the first-half, Umyla Hanley scything through weak tackling to streak home from 40 metres out. Hardaker converted expertly to make it 12-0.
As the Red Devils slowly grew into the game, the contest finally evened up. But the Leopards’ defence stood firm under relentless pressure in the last ten minutes of the half.
HALF-TIME: LEIGH LEOPARDS 12-0 SALFORD RED DEVILS
The Red Devils did pick up in the second-half where they left off in the first, though, as Loghan Lewis went close but a late tackle on O’Brien handed Hardaker the chance to stretch Leigh’s lead to 14-0 – and he did just that.
The game itself was dying a slow death in the 40 minutes and a moment of magic was desperately needed – and Ipape provided it.
The Leigh hooker received an inside pass from John Asiata before his calmness sent over Hardaker for a deserved four-pointer under the posts. Hardaker converted to make it 20-0 with six minutes to go.
Even then, the Leopards still had enough time to cross once more before the end, Leutele tiptoeing his way down the touchline after receiving a Brand pass. Hardaker converted to round off the scoring at 26-0.
Leigh Leopards
3 Zak Hardaker – 9
34 Darnell McIntosh – 7
24 Umyla Hanley – 8
4 Ricky Leutele – 7
22 Keanan Brand – 7
1 Gareth O’Brien – 8
7 Lachlan Lam – 8
8 Tom Amone – 7
9 Edwin Ipape – 9
10 Robbie Mulhern – 8
11 Kai O’Donnell – 9
16 Frankie Halton – 8
13 John Asiata (C) – 7
Substitutes
12 Jack Hughes – 6
17 Owen Trout – 6
33 Brad Dwyer – 6
35 Aaron Pene – 6
Tries: Ipape (6), Hanley (20), Hardaker (73), Leutele (77)
Goals: Hardaker 4/4
Salford Red Devils
1 Ryan Brierley – 5
2 Ethan Ryan – 5
3 Nene Macdonald – 6
4 Tim Lafai – 5
5 Deon Cross – 6
32 Jayden Nikorima – 5
7 Marc Sneyd – 6
8 Brad Singleton – 4
24 Joe Mellor – 5
15 Shane Wright – 4
11 Sam Stone – N/A
12 Kallum Watkins (C) – 6
13 Oliver Partington – 5
Substitutes
16 Joe Shorrocks – 4
23 Chris Hankinson – 6
29 Loghan Lewis – 5
31 Joe Bullock – 5
Sinbin: Ryan (13) – high tackle, Singleton (17) – high tackle
