WIGAN WARRIORS 18 LEIGH LEOPARDS 6
STEPHEN IBBETSON, The Brick Community Stadium, Friday
WIGAN produced a brutally efficient display to take their Super League defence to Old Trafford and deny Leigh a first Grand Final appearance.
In a repeat of last year’s semi-final, which the Warriors won 38-0 with a dazzling display, this time they were forced to grind their way through by improved neighbours who had beaten them twice in the regular season.
Ultimately big-game experience came to the fore once again and it will take a special effort to deny them a third straight crown next Saturday.
The build-up to this contest was entirely dominated by the off-field row between the clubs, as Leigh owner Derek Beaumont threatened to withdraw his side over what he felt was an unreasonable away ticket allocation.
But there was never really any realistic prospect of that coming to fruition, and the supporters on both sides contributed to an excellent atmosphere.
Hostilities on the field were fierce, certainly among the forwards as conditions – rain throughout the day and during the game itself – emphasised the close-quarter battle.
And it’s one that Leigh stood up to very well for almost all of an enjoyably nip-and-tuck first half.
They thought they’d opened the scoring inside six minutes as Owen Trout rolled over after claiming a Gareth O’Brien grubber, but the officials deemed Jai Field to have prevented him from grounding.
Instead Wigan struck first against the run of play, Liams Farrell and Byrne combining to force the ball from Bailey Hodgson on a kick return and Adam Keighran teeing up Bevan French for the opener, converted by Keighran.
Harry Smith’s kicking helped Wigan keep their rivals at arm’s length despite good metreage, until Junior Nsemba’s knock-on attempting a tackle gave Leigh a full set on the line. Robbie Mulhern profited, swooping low to claim an Edwin Ipape dummy-half pass and slice through.
O’Brien’s conversion made it 6-6 and the Leopards were deserving of at least that level score – but they lost their composure, then their shape, in the last three minutes of the first half.
First Ipape took out French as he chased a kick, gifting a penalty goal to Keighran, and then with seconds until the hooter Wigan moved the ball wide nicely and presented Field with a gap to accelerate through and set up French.
The stand-off maestro had two tries without really shining in the first period, but reached into his box of tricks to almost create Wigan’s third in the 51st minute.
He collected his own chip and chase from deep and found Kruise Leeming, who sprayed the ball wide to Nsemba, but Leigh got sufficient bodies out to force the back-rower into touch.
Wigan were now hitting the sweet spot in defence, suffocating the Leopards who simply couldn’t find another gear in response.
On the occasion they did create an opening, O’Brien put Trout through a gap and the forward was never likely to outpace the rapid cover defence of the exceptional Field.
Instead it was Wigan attacking in the closing moments and French set up Sam Walters as the hooter sounded to put the seal on an excellent win.
GAMESTAR: Not for the first time, Jai Field was excellent out the back for Wigan and a real point of difference.
GAMEBREAKER: The three-minute spell before half-time took the score and a fair chunk of hope away from Leigh.
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Jai Field’s creation of a second Bevan French try on the stroke of half-time was thrilling.
MATCHFACTS
WARRIORS
1 Jai Field
2 Abbas Miski
3 Adam Keighran
4 Jake Wardle
5 Liam Marshall
6 Bevan French
7 Harry Smith
16 Liam Byrne
9 Brad O’Neill
10 Luke Thompson
21 Sam Walters
12 Liam Farrell
13 Kaide Ellis
Subs (all used)
8 Ethan Havard
11 Junior Nsemba
15 Patrick Mago
17 Kruise Leeming
18th man (not used)
20 Harvie Hill
Also in 21-man squad
19 Tyler Dupree
22 Zack Eckersley
24 Jack Farrimond
Tries: French (14, 40), Walters (80)
Goals: Keighran 3/3
LEOPARDS
24 Bailey Hodgson
18 Keenan Brand
3 Tesi Niu
4 Umyla Hanley
5 Josh Charnley
6 Gareth O’Brien
7 Lachlan Lam
32 Joe Ofahengaue
9 Edwin Ipape
10 Robbie Mulhern
11 Frankie Halton
8 Owen Trout
13 Isaac Liu
Subs (all used)
12 Jack Hughes
15 Alex Tuitavake
16 Matt Davis
17 Brad Dwyer
18th man (not used)
22 Ben McNamara
Also in 21-man squad
14 Aaron Pene
20 Ethan O’Neill
21 Andy Badrock
Tries: Mulhern (27)
Goals: O’Brien 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 8-6, 14-6; 18-6
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Warriors: Jai Field; Leopards: Owen Trout
Penalty count: 3-1
Half-time: 14-6
Referee: Chris Kendall
Attendance: 18,523