As the battle at the top between Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Catalans Dragons heats up, Leigh Leopards showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with.

They may have been beaten by St Helens last night but it was again another reminder that even without key men like John Asiata and Josh Charnley that they can hang with the very best teams in Super League.

The Leopards could have won the game and after the match speaking on Sky Sports Adrian Lam was aggrieved with some key decisions.

He said: “I loved it, I loved every second of it. I thought, I don’t want to complain but I just didn’t think the decisions went our way.

“Even with the last try, I thought they knocked on prior to it going to the try in the tackle.

“But probably the back to back error off the scrum when we could have taken the two points and then to concede the six, it was a key moment.”

He added:

“I loved it tonight, I thought it was outstanding, I loved everything about it. We have just got to get together and I think we will be really positive.

“That was really physical, it had a semi-final feel to it. If we needed anything after the Challenge Cup, that was probably it.”

It was a physical affair from minute one given the angst between the two clubs going into the game tonight and that created some of the best and most ferocious tackles you will see all season.

Saints heaped the pressure on the Leopards early but after earning a penalty the Leopards went down field and created a superb try with a lovely set pattern move.

They might not have had John Asiata to organise their attack, their spine still linked brilliantly with ben Reynolds popping up on the left edge to feed a sweeping move that was completed by Oliver Gildart, his first of the season. That gave Leigh a 6-0 lead but that was soon wiped out.

The Champions struck from deep with Tommy Makinson freed up down the wing and then the ball was kept alive until it was returned to the winger to score and make it 6-all.

The Saints perhaps should have notched another try before the halftime hooter with the pressure they built but that was repelled brilliantly by Leigh.

Then it was Saints making errors at the start of the second half and Leigh had some chances with Zak Hardaker coming close but being denied by some superb cover defence.

However, Leigh would lament those missed chances when a high kick was dropped by Gareth O’Brien and James Roby pounced scooping up the ball and feeding Makinson for a second.

The Saints would back that up when a nice set play allowed Jonny Lomax just enough space to ease through and make it 16-6.

That looked like it would settle matters but Leigh fired a warning shot with a break down the left before a break from Edwin Ipape and an offload let to a try from Rob Mulhern to make it 16-12.

In the dying stages we saw the teams trade no tries with the Saints denied a penalty try before a Tom Briscoe try was denied for a knock on.

But eventually Joe Batchelor was on hand to win the game.

It was a game that showed that James Roby is still the man for St Helens. He made the difference and showed that it could have been a different story in the semi-final had he played.

It was also a game that was really fiery and showed that these two are becoming fierce rivals.