Leigh Leopards cemented a spot in Super League’s top four as they beat St Helens 28-10 at Leigh Sports Village.
Here’s our talking points.
Leigh up to third
Leigh Leopards know their next two games will be at Leigh Sports Village after securing a spot in the top four of Super League. The Leopards were good value for their win over the Saints and whether they face St Helens, Wakefield Trinity or Hull FC in the elimination play-offs, they’ll fancy their chances of claiming a spot in the semi-finals of Super League.
They got off to a strong start against St Helens with Andy Badrock getting over inside the opening quarter of the game after a superb piece of play from Lachlan Lam, opening up what is usually such a resolute defensive line with a neat dummy.
Keanan Brand got over to double the lead, by making the most of a Mark Percival slip. That was before Edwin Ipape was sin-binned for a high shot on Daryl Clark and with a man off the field, they shipped two tries.
Both stemmed from Bailey Hodgson errors, one directly and one indirectly, with Kyle Feldt and Harry Robertson touching down. But Leigh flexed their muscles and imposed themselves on the Merseyside outfit again once the numbers had been evened up.
A Gareth O’Brien kick was knocked back by Umyla Hanley before Jack Hughes nudged the ball into the in-goal area to touch down. And, Ipape got himself over with a powerful run to score under the sticks
Owen Trout wrapped it all up by getting on the end of an Ipape kick.
Wellens’ spine troubles
It’s fairly clear now that Paul Wellens doesn’t know what his best spine looks like and the chopping and changing we’ve seen of late isn’t helping. He named Jack Welsby and Moses Mbye in the halves this week, his 10th different half-back combination and it’s fair to say it didn’t work.
Both players had their moments but as a pairing they managed to produce very little and failed to kickstart an attack that has been a chore to watch at times. Saints huffed and puffed with the ball in hand but if it wasn’t for the errors from Hodgson, it’s fair to say they probably wouldn’t have got over at all.
Tristan Sailor failed to impact the game in anyway with the ball in his hand and their kicking game was lacklustre.
Kyle Feldt
Without a doubt the worst moment of the game for St Helens came when Kyle Feldt hit the deck in embarrassing fashion. The winger received the ball in space before stepping inside and throwing himself to the ground while holding his face.
The game was stopped and replays showed the Leigh defender brushing Feldt’s facial hair with his fingers. Feldt eventually got himself up, while holding his face, before being shown a green card but it’s fair to say he won’t want to see that one back.
Ipape at risk
Leigh Leopards might have secured a top four spot, but Edwin Ipape might just be looking at a ban following his yellow card in the first half. Ipape caught Daryl Clark high and spent what proved to be a costly 10 minutes on the sidelines.
The hooker already has five points and that means just one more charge will result in a ban. As such, he could be set to sit out of the Huddersfield Giants clash next week at the very least.
What it means
Well, the win means Leigh are guaranteed a spot in the top four now and they’ll more than likely finish third now with Huddersfield to play at home on the final day next Friday. Leeds Rhinos are now in fourth after their shock loss last time out to Catalans Dragons, while St Helens are now resigned to fifth.
As such, as it stands Saints will be going to Headingley in the play-offs, where they have won already this season, while Leigh will be hosting either Wakefield Trinity or Hull FC.
