St Helens’ unlikely chance of making the play-offs is now officially over after a 48-10 defeat to Leigh Leopards.
The Leopards showed their class upon returning home to the Leigh Sports Village, scoring eight tries, four in each half, including two from Umyla Hanley to take a huge win.
Josh Charnley opened the scoring, and in celebration announced he had agreed a new deal to remain at the club for another season.
Jacob Douglas and Tristan Sailor crossed for Saints, but their depleted pack couldn’t put up with the dominance that Leigh showed, with the likes of Joe Ofahengaue and Robbie Mulhern brilliant once again.
Leigh Leopards v St Helens talking points
The streak… is over:
It’s been an incredible streak, but defeat tonight means that Saints’ 64-year run of consecutively finishing in the play-offs has come to an end.
Coming into this game, it was going to be an almighty task, as not only did they need to win, but they also needed Hull KR to lose, which didn’t happen as they sailed past Huddersfield.
Injuries have played a large part of Saints’ downfall this season, but overall it has been a hugely disappointing year that will now come to an end at the Brewdog Stadium next week against a Robins side who have secured their spot in the six.
Pressure on Wakefield:
Tonight’s result sees Leigh move to 34 points level with Wakefield who sit in fourth. Trinity play tomorrow against Warrington, and a defeat there would set up a winner-take-all battle between the Leigh and Wakefield next week, with the victor in that one taking fourth spot heading into the finals.
Not only that, but the 38-point win also does Leigh’s points difference. They were 85 behind Wakefield in that metric ahead of this game, but after almost halving that this week, it puts that extra pressure on Trinity in case the final standings come down to points difference.
Injury concerns:
Both sides were dealt blows, with Leigh centre Keanan Brand going off the field in the first half with an ankle problem. The former Castleford loanee made his first Leopards appearance since March, but it would be an evening of disappointment for the ex-Widnes and Warrington man.
For Saints, Shane Wright will miss next week’s game after failing a HIA. The back rower clashed heads with teammate Joe Shorrocks and came off second best.
Percival’s comeback to forget:
Returning to the field for the first time since June, retiring veteran Mark Percival spent part of his comeback game in the sin-bin following a high shot on David Armstrong.
“Lucky not to see red,” was Sky pundit Terry O’Connor’s verdict, though video referee Liam Moore deemed there to be not enough evidence to meet the threshold of a send-off.
Tonight’s defeat means that Percival played his penultimate career game this evening, with next week’s game against Hull KR set to be his final outing before retirement.
Cook’s game-changing try:
Following Umyla Hanley’s score just short of the half-hour mark, Leigh found themselves 18-10 up and in control. From a Saints perspective, you thought that if they could make it to half-time without conceding again, they could regroup in the sheds and go again.
However, an opportunistic try from Cook gave Saints a three-score lead, and that would just be too much for the Red Vee to overcome. It was a try that saw Cook capitalise on a poor Edwin Ipape offload, with the half-back’s reactions seeing him get to the ball first. That try before half-time took the wind out of Saints’ sails, and from there Leigh were able to take their game to another level and put on a hefty score.
Charnley pens new deal mid-game:
After scoring the opening try less than 10 minutes into the contest, Leigh had some very special news to announce. A unique try celebration saw Josh Charnley literally sign a contract extension, thanks to a piece of paper on a clipboard that was put pitchside.
After showing the TV cameras his signature, the announcer in the stadium revealed that the 35-year-old was sticking around at the LSV for a little bit longer, much to the delight of the Leopards faithful in the stadium.
