Wakefield Wildcats boost survival hopes with Leigh win
Last Updated: 22/08/15 9:34pm
Wakefield took another significant stride towards Super League survival with a thrilling 17-16 victory over Leigh at Leigh Sports Village.
A third defeat in three games at the hands of Super League opposition leaves the Centurions with little hope of gaining automatic promotion, while a second successive win over a Championship team puts the Wildcats in a strong position to secure a top-four finish in the series.
With Jacob Miller crossing for a pair of tries, it was also sweet revenge for Wakefield's Challenge Cup exit at the hands of Leigh in May.
The eagerly-awaited clash lived up to expectations, with little to choose between the pair in a fiercely-contested affair.
Leigh could hardly have made a worst start, with Martyn Ridyard knocking on from the kick-off and prop Fuifui Moimoi losing the ball on his own 20-metre line to give their opponents an early chance to attack their line.
The Wildcats duly seized their opportunity, with impressive centre Bill Tupou squeezing out a return pass for full-back Lee Smith to go over for the game's first try.
Smith added the touchline conversion to make it 6-0 but the Centurions soaked up the rest of the early pressure and scored from their first attack, with Moimoi crashing over from close range.
Style
Visibly growing in confidence, Leigh began to turn on the style and hit their visitors with two tries in nine minutes to open up a 16-6 lead.
Jonny Pownall celebrated his 24th birthday by juggling with a cut-out pass from Ridyard to touch down, before fellow wing Liam Kay twice hacked the ball forward after Ridyard had launched a speculative kick from a scrum heel on his own team's 10-metre line.
It was a try that amply illustrated the Championship club's attacking flair and, with Ridyard adding both conversions, Leigh were good value for their 10-point lead.
However, fleet-footed Wakefield stand-off Miller pulled a try back four minutes before the interval after a darting solo run and produced an almost identical run after 58 minutes to claim a second.
Smith's second goal levelled the scores before Wakefield were reduced to 12 men after 61 minutes when hooker Michael Sio was punished for a 'crusher' tackle on Greg McNally.
That appeared to be a harsh call after Leigh second-rower Kurt Haggerty escaped by being placed on report by referee James Child earlier in the game for suspected use of his knees on try-scorer Smith.
The visitors were still a man short when Smith put over a drop goal to restore their lead.
Winger Chris Riley thought he had made the game safe for Wakefield when he scooped up a loose ball to sprint 40 metres to the line but the try was disallowed for a double knock-on.
