Rhinos charge in at death

Leeds left it until the very last minute to cement their place in the Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-finals with a dramatic 12-10 victory over Wigan.

Neither side seemed prepared to take risks during an intensely physical encounter in awkward conditions at a rain swept Headingley.

And for much of the match it was up to opposing kickers Kevin Sinfield and Wigan's Pat Richards to slug it out for small change.

But, with Leeds trailing 8-10 after 78 tryless minutes, full-back Lee Smith delivered the elusive four pointer to propel his side into the final four.

Strong start

A strong start from the Rhinos saw them threatening the Wigan line twice in the opening five minutes.

However, despite commanding the lion's share of possession in the opening quarter, the hosts were unable to convert their pressure into points.

The usually rock-solid Sinfield saw consecutive penalty attempts bounce back off the uprights twice in the space of two minutes.

But, when Jamie Peacock was pinged for a high tackle on Sam Tomkins in the 21st minute, it was down to Richards to remind the Leeds skipper how it was done.

The Ireland international booted a straightforward effort from under the sticks to give the visitors a 2-0 lead, and on 31 minutes he doubled his side's advantage with another two-pointer.

A further penalty three minutes later saw Richards stretch Wigan six points clear but Leeds replied almost immediately courtesy of Sinfield, who this time found the target to close the gap to 6-2.

Tomkins thought he had touched down on 36 minutes but his try was disallowed after some deliberation by the video referee.

And, as the clock ran down on the first half, Sinfield slotted his second penalty to take his side into the break trailing by just two.

The penalties kept coming after the restart and, when Richards missed a long range effort three minutes into the half, it was beginning to look like the match would be decided by the boot.

But when Wigan's Liam Farrell was sent to the sin bin for a late challenge on stand-off Danny McGuire, the hosts were presented with a golden opportunity to break the deadlock.

Sinfield levelled the scores from the resulting penalty with a well-struck effort and Leeds began to pile on the pressure as they sought to press home their advantage.

But, when awarded a penalty while their opponents were a man down, the hosts surprisingly elected to go for goal and Sinfield sent his kick wide.

A minute later and another penalty, though this time Leeds kicked for the corner in an effort to force the first try of the day.

Decisive factor

It was not to be for the Rhinos though and, as the 58-minute mark approached, the boot again proved to be the decisive factor as Richards put Wigan back into the lead.

Sinfield levelled the scores at eight apiece on 63 minutes with a monster effort under intense pressure.

But Richard's restored the Wigan's two-point advantage five minutes later after referee Phil Bentham awarded his 21st penalty of the match.

However, with just a minute to go, some fierce tacking from Peacock gave Smith the opportunity to end the attrition and bustle over for the try.

Sinfield missed the conversion, hitting the post for a third time, but it did not matter, as the Leeds players and their fans were already celebrating success in what they will all remember as a very close run thing.