London Broncos vs Leeds Rhinos player ratings as two men hit 9/10

Leeds Rhinos kept the pressure on teams ahead of them with a last-gasp victory over London Broncos at Plough Lane this afternoon.

After a win for Leigh Leopards and a loss for Salford Red Devils on Friday night, everything got even closer in the race for the playoff spots, and now just two points separate fourth place from eighth place.

The Rhinos were able to name an unchanged team for the first time in 401 days, with Miller at full-back, Croft and Frawley in the halves and Ackers at hooker meaning they had a full-strength spine available.

Last time round, Leeds Rhinos needed golden-point extra-time to emerge victorious – and again, this is what we needed to separate the sides.

Two early penalties given away by the Rhinos meant the Broncos had the field position for Jack Campagnolo to cross over for the first try of the afternoon, meaning the home side had a shock early lead in the summer heat.

However, Rhyse Martin made the most of what looked like a very average kick from Brodie Croft to go in to score himself, and after a 20 minutes full of errors from both sides, he kicked two points from a penalty close to the Broncos line to make it 8-6 to Leeds.

The mistakes kept coming, with very few completed sets to be found, but Matt Frawley’s clever chip over the top was collected well by Martin who went in to score even more points for his side – with the resulting kick ensuring he reached the milestone of 1,000 points in his Leeds Rhinos career.

However, London weren’t out of it, and Campagnolo’s kick bobbled past James McDonnell, and Emmanuel Waine stormed in to dive over the line in the final minute of the half.

As half-time rolled around, it was London Broncos 12-14 Rhyse Martin.

A great ball from Jack Campagnolo allowed Lee Kershaw to go over to give the Broncos a brief lead, but Rhyse Martin’s third try put the Rhinos back in the lead.

This lasted until five minutes to go, as a break from Lee Kershaw was terrific – the video referee couldn’t overturn an on-field decision of ‘try’, and his offload to Ethan Natoli meant his side drew level!

Oli Leyland’s kick hit the post, and the Rhinos seemed ready to drive for a drop-goal, but a knock-on from Tom Nicholson-Watton made it the Broncos with the opportunity, but Campagnolo’s attempt was wide.

It was further agony in extra-time, as Campagnolo’s 45m effort hit the crossbar before Brodie Croft’s attempt meant deja vu, and ensured a successful first visit to the Broncos’ SW19 home.

Star man

Rhyse Martin chased kicks well all night, and this paid off as he scored every single one of his side’s 14 first-half points, before scoring a third try in the second-half.

However, Jack Campagnolo set the tone for the game early – when he scored, just a few minutes in, he had already had one or two moments of magic, and kept it up throughout the match.

In the second-half, he played a wonderful ball out wide for Lee Kershaw’s try which gave the Broncos the lead too.

His intensity early is what gave him the nod, as we often see the Broncos slip to comfortable victory after a poor start, and Campagnolo ensured they didn’t go down without a fight.

However, it was a tough decision – Rhyse Martin’s solo efforts were also incredible.

Key moment

A bizarre offside in attack for London Broncos – with Sam Davis’ play-the-ball ahead of the play – meant that, just minutes after a London ‘no try’, Leeds Rhinos could have gone eight points ahead, just minutes into the second-half.

However, Jacob Jones and Sadiq Adebayi kept Cameron Smith out, holding him up over the line with a fantastic tackle, and soon after, Lee Kershaw crossed over to give the Broncos the lead.

This could have been the key moment for a Broncos victory, but in the end, the key moments were Oli Leyland and Jack Campagnolo both hitting the woodwork.

London Broncos vs Leeds Rhinos player ratings

London Broncos: Josh Rourke 7, Lee Kershaw 8, Ethan Natoli 6, Jarred Bassett 7, Hakim Miloudi 7, Oli Leyland 7, Jack Campagnolo 9, Rob Butler 6, Sam Davis 6, Rhys Kennedy 6, Will Lovell , Sadiq Adebiyi 6, Marcus Stock 8

Bench: Ugo Tison 6, Lewis Bienek 6, Jacob Jones 6, Emmanuel Waine 6

Leeds Rhinos: Lachie Miller 7, David Fusitu’a 5, Paul Momirovski 4, Harry Newman 6, Alfie Edgell 8, Brodie Croft 5, Matt Frawley 6, Sam Lisone 5, Andy Ackers 4, Justin Sangare 5, James McDonnell 6, Rhyse Martin 9, Cameron Smith 6

Bench: Tom Nicholson-Watton 5, James Bentley 7, Jarrod O’Connor 5, James Donaldson 6