A week after their epic Challenge Cup semi-finals it’s now time for Wigan Warriors and Leigh Leopards to face each other in Super League with the winner going a step closer to securing a home play-off semi-final.
Leigh entered the game with a brilliant run of form having defeated St Helens last week and boasting a Super League record of ten wins from their last eleven, but they were keen to avenge their loss against Wigan back in round seven.
As for Wigan they entered on the back of a devasting loss at the hands of Hull KR via a golden point drop goal and their Super League form was a bit shakier with three wins and thee losses in their last six but they had the potential prize of second place on offer in this match.
Wigan were without Willie Isa and the suspended Joe Shorrocks whilst Leigh were missing Ricky Leutele and the suspended Edwin Ipape.
Highlights
Amone Power
The early exchanges saw very little barring a Lachlan Lam line break but after a Liam Farrell silly penalty gave away territory the Leopards utilised it with prop Tom Amone powering over to open the scoring.
Field and French show
Leigh weren’t in front for long and a Liam Farrell line break allowed him to offload to Field who was quickly supported by the only man who could catch up with him, Bevan French, who crossed for the third successive Super League game.
Leigh lucky as Wigan denied
The Leopards had the territory but a poor pass by Ben Reynolds was punished with Briscoe unable to collect and Liam Marshall scooping up to pass to Joe Wardle who raced the length of the field. A call of no try was supported by the video ref who claimed Marshall pushed Briscoe – a very close call.
King quickest to react
Wigan pinned Leigh in through a brilliant Bevan French kick chase that forced a goal line drop out. From there Wigan spread it wide and Toby King was the first to pounce on a scuffed Abbas Miski kick, allowing him to put Wigan 10-6 up just before the break.
Two tries in two minutes
Following King’s try it seemed the score would be 10-6 going into half time but a brilliant Wigan move saw the ball shift wide and a better kick from Abbas Miski back inside was just about gathered by Bevan French who scored his second of the game. Smith added the extras to make it a 10 point game at 16-6.
Dupree on debut!
The most popular try-scorer at the DW without doubt as new recruit Tyler Dupree burst through after a step and some weak defending from Leigh. He even had time to circle round under the sticks as he registered his fourth try of the season to stretch the game to 22-6.
Miski Magic!
After this two kick assists in the first half the Lebanese winger killed the game with half an hour to go by intercepting a Gareth O’Brien pass deep in his own half. He raced free with Zak Hardaker only catching him too late with momentum carrying the 28-year-old over.
Miski Magic again!!
Even better this time from the winger who is fast establishing himself as the best finisher in Super League. Almost everyone in the DW thought he’d put a foot in touch but the video referee showed that he tight-rope walked the touchline before diving over. A supreme talent!
Too easy for Wigan
The towel could have been thrown in after the first try of the second half but Wigan continued to pile the points on, this time with Bevan French playing a smart flick pass out to Liam Marshall who easily crossed over and strolled under the posts to make it 38-6.
Consolation for Briscoe
Gareth O’Brien had a poor game by his standards but he made good on Tom Briscoe’s try with ten minutes to go, the full-back’s quick hands sent Tom Briscoe through who wasn’t to be done for pace in the corner.
Hat-trick for Miski!
It was his birthday on Tuesday but he was being handed his gits today when O’Brien’s pass in his own half was intercepted by the winger who raced in to score his third of the game, and cement his Man of the Match status.
Leopards have last say
Tom Amone scored the opener and he set up the final try of the day when he approached the line and played a smart pass inside to his prop partner Robbie Mulhern. With the close nature of the playoff places those extra six points could be crucial, with the game finishing of 44-18.
Talking Points
Two tired teams
As we saw last night with St Helens the game got scrappy at times and that was the case here with both sides having played last week. Handling errors were plenty, lots of passes went to ground and line breaks often came from sloppy defending as opposed to individual brilliance.
Sloppy Leigh
Whilst it was fair to assess both teams were tired, one side were far superior to the other with Wigan seriously turning it on. Barring the opening couple of weeks and the reverse fixture, this was the worst Leigh have performed all season.
Warriors leapfrog Leopards
Wigan were two points behind Leigh prior to this game but behind on points difference, however the large margin of victory saw them jump into second and just four points behind Catalans.
Player Ratings
Wigan Warriors
1: Jai Field – 8
23: Abbas Miski – 10
3: Toby King – 8
4: Jake Wardle – 8
5: Liam Marshall – 8
2: Bevan French – 9
7: Harry Smith – 9
15: Kaide Ellis – 8
22: Brad O’Neill – 7
10: Liam Byrne – 8
17: Kai Pearce-Paul – 7
12: Liam Farrell – 8
13: Morgan Smithies – 7
Subs
6: Cade Cust – 8
20: Patrick Mago – 8
27: Junior Nsemba – NA
34: Tyler Dupree – 9
Leigh Leopards
17: Gareth O’Brien – 4
2: Tom Briscoe – 5
1: Zak Hardaker – 5
3: Ed Chamberlain – 6
5: Josh Charnley – 6
15: Ben Reynolds – 6
7: Lachlan Lam – 5
8: Tom Amone – 6
6: Joe Mellor – 7
10: Robbie Mulhern – 6
16: Ollie Holmes – 5
12: Jack Hughes – 5
13: John Asiata – 5
Subs
11: Joe Wardle – NA
14: Ben Nakubawai – 6
18: Matty Davis – 6
25: Nathan Wilde – 5
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