Leigh 14-17 Leeds: Rhinos resist late Centurions charge
Last Updated: 18/02/17 1:23pm
Leeds got off the mark in the Betfred Super League after coming from 8-0 down to beat promoted Leigh 17-14 in a nail-biting finish at the Sports Village.
Most of the points came inside the first 14 minutes and, although defences tightened up considerably, there was no let-up in the entertainment, with the Rhinos hanging on desperately in a frantic finish to leave the Centurions still looking for their first win of the season.
Leeds, who had skipper Danny McGuire on the bench on his return from injury, lost prop Mitch Garbutt just before kick-off with illness and gave a debut to former Featherstone forward Jack Ormondroyd.
Leigh coach Neil Jukes rang the changes following his side's opening 44-16 defeat at Castleford, bringing in Antoni Maria for his debut and recalling Willie Tonga, Ben Reynolds, Jamie Acton and Sam Hopkins - and they looked to have done the trick as the home side made a dream start.
Matty Dawson opened the scoring on four minutes, taking a cut-out pass from scrum-half Josh Drinkwater, and full-back Mitch Brown added a second three minutes later following an offload close to the line by Reynolds.
Reynolds was unable to add either conversion, though, and after the early Centurions onslaught subsided, Leeds began to establish a stranglehold on the game.
Prop Adam Cuthbertson was the catalyst for the Rhinos' response, crashing through for a try within a minute of entering the action from the bench, while hooker Matt Parcell caught the eye with a lightning break which enabled second rower Carl Ablett to get winger Ryan Hall over for a second try.
When coach Brian McDermott brought Parcell off for a rest on 29 minutes, he had the luxury of being able to introduce McGuire into the halves, with Rob Burrow switching to hooker as the Rhinos continued to create chances.
Centre Jimmy Keinhorst, a replacement for the injured Joel Moon, forced his way over for Leeds' third try eight minutes before the break and Burrow would have claimed a fourth had he been able to take Hall's pass with the line breached but the chance went begging.
Liam Sutcliffe was able to convert only one of his side's tries but he coolly slotted a 40-metre drop goal on the stroke of half-time to open up a two-score lead at 15-8.
The second-half action was fast and furious as Dawson went close to touching down Drinkwater's kick to the corner while Leeds centre Kallum Watkins, who looked a threat every time he had the ball, fumbled at the other end.
Leigh were temporarily down to 12 men when substitute Acton was sin-binned for a professional foul on winger Tom Briscoe after he had caught a high kick behind his own line but Leeds were unable to take advantage.
With the game becoming scrappy and both defences holding firm, Leeds took the option to extend their lead by another two points on the hour after Leigh had been pulled up for interference.
Leigh then blew the game wide open on 67 minutes when centre Ben Crooks, who is on a season-long loan from Castleford, forced his way over for his side's third try and Reynolds made it third time lucky with the conversion attempt.
Crooks then went close to grabbing a second before second rower Atelea Vea was hauled down a foot short of the line on the last tackle.
