| Leigh (20) 30 |
| Testing: O’Brien 2, Briscoe, Charnley, Reynolds Objectives: Reynolds 5 |
| Warrington (12) 12 |
| Testing: Williams, Philbin Objectives: Ratchford 2 |
Leigh Leopards moved within four points of the Super League summit with a fine win over leaders Warrington Wolves – their eighth win of the season.
Former Wires Gareth O’Brien, who scored two tries, and Josh Charnley crossed, along with Tom Briscoe and Ben Reynolds for Adrian Lam’s side.
Daryl Powell’s Wire had only lost to Wigan and champions St Helens this season before this defeat.
Their points came from points by George Williams and Joe Philbin in the first half.
After dominating the Championship with a star-studded side, Lam’s Leigh have made equally impressive waves in Super League following promotion and any thoughts of a relegation battle have been replaced by dreams of play-off glory .
In boss Adrian’s son Lachlan they have one of the division’s elite playmakers and his prompting along with Reynolds’ steady boot and loose-forward John Asiata’s finesse have been key to their form.
Lam teed up O’Brien’s opening score, with a scrum burst, while Reynolds headed up Briscoe’s score, and a combination of pivots set up Charnley’s try.
Star hooker Edwin Ipape split the defense for O’Brien’s second, while Reynolds capitalized on an error to streak downfield for his try and added a fifth goal to his tally.
Warrington could never stop their hosts but Williams’ class was unstoppable when he finished off a break from Daryl Clark, while Philbin also received a sharp pass from the same player for his score.
Desperate defending denied them further points, as Matt Dufty and Matty Ashton went close.
Leigh coach Adrian Lam:
“I’m very proud. It’s a tough game – Warrington are a quality side who have set the standards this season. We know it’s going to be physical and we just have to be up for the challenge.
“I thought we were good for most of the game but it wasn’t perfect. The way we defended our line showed how we kept going at each other. I thought our defense was really strong.
“I don’t think one player has stood out for us – that’s been one of the secrets for us all season. It’s great to get six wins in a row but things can change very quickly when put yourself first.
“It’s a great feeling to beat the team that is at the top of the table.”
Warrington coach Daryl Powell:
“It was a static start from us. Even though we got a couple of tries, we were lucky to get into that scoreline 20-12 at half-time.
“I thought we dominated from start to finish – it was a disappointing effort from us. Credit to Leigh, they were very good and played at the top of their game but we made too many mistakes and gave away too many penalties.
“That loss will probably come in a few weeks. We won games but not well, so we need to re-learn the way we played at the beginning of the season and get back to that level.
“We had a lot of fans with us tonight and we didn’t give our fans enough to follow us.”
Leigh: O’Brien; Briscoe, Leutele, Hardaker, Charnley; Reynolds, Lam; Ammon, Ibape, Mulhern, Holmes, O’Donnell, Asiata
Interchanges: Mellor, Seumanufagai, Halton, Davis [Wilde]
Warrington: Dufty; Russell, Mata’utia, Ratchford, Ashton; Williams, Dean; Harrison, Walker, Vaughan, Currie, McGuire, Clark
Interchanges: Kasiano, Philbin, Dudson, Minikin [Bullock]
