The two sides tipped pre-season by many as the two relegation prospects have had contrasting starts to the season and while both Wakefield Trinity and the Leigh Leopards will have identified this afternoon´s encounter as a key one for their season the Bookies strongly favoured that it would be the Leopards who would inflict further misery on the home side.
Wakefield are winless after the first eight rounds of Super League, and have failed to score a single point in half of their games so far in 2023. The Leopards have beaten both Hull sides and claimed the famous scalp of Champions St Helens in their opening games and will count themselves as unlucky to have lost narrowly in three other outings, especially last week´s two-point loss to Salford.
It was a great opening for Trinity as they took the game to Leigh over the opening minutes but with ten minutes on the clock it looked like it was going to be a real arm-wrestle as the opening twenty minutes of the game came and went with neither side troubling the scorers.
Leigh should have opened the scoring on twenty after a great break, but the referee pulled up the attack for a forward pass.
Trinity got back-to-back sets under the Leopards sticks on twenty-five, but they dropped the ball and handed possession back to the visitors. On the next set it was Leigh´s turn to spill the ball and Wakefield were then awarded another set bit a Wakefield obstruction, with ball in hand, saw another attack come to nothing.
Within seconds the Leopards hit the front on twenty-five as the Leopards stretched play downfield and used space down the wing with Gareth O´Brien going in by the corner flag after breaks from Lachlan Lam and Josh Charnley, the winger drawing the last tackler before finding his full back to go in. Ben Reynolds was unable to add the conversion.
Leigh scored their second under the sticks with Reynolds dotting down after taking the final pass from Lam after he´d stepped and dummied to go through the Wakefield defence. Reynolds was on target this time for a 10-0 lead. Wakefield, once again, up against it with a ten-point deficit at the interval, and once again pointless.
Leigh were pushing for a third try at the start of the second half but once again play broke down with another obstruction penalty against the Leopards as the ball carrier went behind a team mate.
Out of nowhere Josh Charnley found a gap and broke downfield before he flung the ball inside to the supporting Lam who pinned back his ears and went forty metres to score under the sticks at a canter. Reynolds was on target with the conversion for 16-0.
On fifty-five Charnley collected a grubber to the corner to ground by the corner flag for the fourth Leigh try of the game. Reynolds added the conversion for 22-0, the Leopards growing in confidence.
Trinity had a try disallowed on sixty-seven as they were unable to force the ball to the ground but as Leigh returned the ball, they made great metres with Lam again the provider as Charnley crossed for his second. Reynolds added the conversion for 28-0.
Wakefield´s shoulders were down as Leigh went in again after a short O´Brien up and under hit his leg and bounced into the hands of Joe Mellor for a simple run in. Reynolds was unable to add the extras on this occasion when he should really have done better.
Yet another pointless loss for Trinity, their ninth consecutive defeat at the start of the 2023 season and it is difficult to see where their first win is going to come from. Leigh, on the other hand, continue a great start to the season as they register their fourth win and while they remain in ninth spot, they are level on points with big hitters St Helens and Huddersfield Giants. Things look bright for the Leopards, but very dark for Trinity.
Wakefield Trinity: Dagger, Kershaw, Lyne, Langi, Taufua, Smith, Lino, Whitbread, Hood, Atoni, Hewitt, Ashurst, Pitts. Subs: Kay, Battye, Bowden, Proctor. 18th Man: Bowes.
Leigh Leopards: O´Brien (T), Briscoe, Leutele, Hardaker, Charnley (2T), Reynolds (T, 4G), Lam (T), Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, Holmes, O´Donnell, Asiata. Subs: Mellor (T), Seumanufagai, Wilde, Davis. 18th Man: Hanley.
Half-Time: 0-10.
Full-Time: 0-32.
Score Progression: 0-4, 0-8, 0-10 : HT : 0-14, 0-16, 0-20, 0-22, 0-26, 0-28, 0-32: FT.
Lead Exchanges: Leigh.
Referee: Marcus Griffiths.
