Leeds 16-17 Toronto: Gareth O'Brien drop-goal sinks Rhinos
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 29/09/18 12:55am
Gareth O'Brien struck a dramatic late drop-goal to hand promotion-chasing Toronto a 17-16 victory over Leeds in the final round of the Super 8s Qualifiers.
The former Warrington full-back, whose one-pointer handed Salford victory at Hull KR in the 2016 Million Pound Game, kept his cool with a superb drop-goal from distance to seal the win.
It means that the Wolfpack have secured themselves at least a place in the Million Pound Game, if not more.
Hull KR need to beat Widnes by a margin of 13 or more on Sunday if they are to overhaul Toronto into third place and secure automatic safety.
The Rhinos knew that anything better than a 32-point defeat would keep them in Super League but Toronto pushed them hard and led 12-10 at the break.
A tight opening saw the Wolfpack go closest to scoring in the seventh minute through winger Mason Caton-Brown in the right corner.
Five minutes later, they claimed the opening try when O'Brien embarked on a fine break inside the left channel.
He outpaced several Leeds defenders and had the intelligence to find Cory Paterson in support to his right.
The Australian second-rower took O'Brien's inside pass in his stride and charged over the line for a try which the creator converted to make it 6-0 to Toronto.
The Rhinos struggled to find their rhythm but they were off the mark in the 12th minute when Liam Sutcliffe kicked to the right corner and winger Tom Briscoe collected the bouncing ball and touched down.
Sutcliffe could not convert and a penalty from O'Brien extended Toronto's advantage by two points in the 23rd minute.
Yet Leeds' attacking threat gradually increased and Richie Myler's lofted kick on the last tackle was caught and grounded by Sutcliffe under the posts in the 27th minute.
Sutcliffe applied the simple conversion to make it 10-8 to the Rhinos but as the half-time hooter approached, a fine handling sequence led to centre Nick Rawsthorne touching down from Josh McCrone's pass.
O'Brien failed to convert but Toronto led 12-10 before departing centre Jimmy Keinhorst barged over the line to put Leeds back in front in the 56th minute.
Sutcliffe's conversion made it 16-12 but 10 minutes later Toronto were level when winger Matty Russell grounded a kick from Bob Beswick.
That levelled the scores at 16-16 and O'Brien could not apply the conversion from the touchline.
The tension mounted when Leeds prop Dom Crosby was then sin-binned for a crusher tackle on Toronto prop Darcy Lussick.
With eight minutes remaining, McCrone was off target with a long-range drop-goal attempt and Myler then saw an attempt miss the target at the other end.
But it was O'Brien's one-pointer that finally sealed victory for Toronto.
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