Leeds 40-0 Warrington: Matt Parcell scores hat-trick for Rhinos
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 27/05/17 10:50am
Matt Parcell scored a hat-trick to continue his stunning start to life at Headingley as Leeds moved up to third in Super League with a 40-0 rout of Warrington.
The Australian hooker joined the Rhinos from NRL club Manly in the off-season and has been the driving force behind Leeds' much-improved campaign.
Parcell's 14th-minute opener and Liam Sutcliffe's try and two goals put Leeds in charge against the Wolves at the end of a scrappy first half that belied the ideal playing conditions.
The No 9 added his second try just after the restart and then completed his hat-trick after Jamie Jones-Buchanan and Joel Moon had crossed to heap further misery on out-of-sorts Warrington.
Rob Burrow went over for a deserved try in the final few minutes as Leeds moved eight points clear of one of their traditional rivals for the Super League crown in style.
The Rhinos had to survive a fast start by Warrington as Ashton Golding spilled a towering kick from Kurt Gidley, who then earned his side another repeat set with a dab into the in-goal area.
The home side repelled those early Warrington raids but the Wolves came again and could count themselves unfortunate there was not a camera angle available to conclusively prove Matty Russell had touched down a loose ball.
Leeds had offered little in attack until Tom Briscoe found a gap in the Warrington defence close to halfway and with options left and right he gave Parcell a simple finish for his 11th try of the year.
The hosts were forced into a reshuffle when Golding limped off and it was his replacement at full-back who extended Leeds' lead on 29 minutes.
The Rhinos twice turned down the chance of two points from penalties and they were rewarded for their adventure when Sutcliffe took Danny McGuire's pass to ghost over out wide for his fourth try in as many games.
Sutcliffe failed to add the extras to his own try from the touchline but Leeds were in control at 10-0 with half-time approaching.
The Rhinos sought a killer third try in the final few minutes of the half but were content to settle for two points from the boot of Sutcliffe after Tom Lineham was penalised in possession.
The next score was crucial and it went to Leeds as Parcell dummied his way under the posts from close range.
Sutcliffe added a simple conversion to put Leeds 18-0 up and effectively out of sight against a Warrington side well below their best in attack.
It was a case of damage limitation for the Wolves after Jones-Buchanan took Burrow's no-look pass to round Stefan Ratchford and score his first try of the season.
Warrington's night got worse when Gidley hobbled off and their frustrations boiled over as Daryl Clark traded punches with Stevie Ward in an altercation that saw both players sin-binned.
Moon picked the ball up from dummy-half and took advantage of more soft defence to extend Leeds' lead before Sutcliffe added the conversion and a penalty to make it 30-0.
Burrow had given the Warrington defence a torrid time after replacing Golding and it was his break that allowed Parcell to complete his treble.
The diminutive half-back had the last word as he raced clear to put the seal on Leeds' first win over Wire in four attempts.
