Super League: Wigan ease to top of table with club-record 12th straight win over Wakefield as Leigh rout Bradford

Wigan eased to the top of the Betfred Super League table with a club-record 12th straight win after seeing off gutsy Wakefield 26-12 at the Brick Community Stadium.

Matt Peet's men brutally exploited a series of handling errors by the visitors to muscle into a 20-point half-time lead, then repelled a fine fightback with Jai Field's length-of-field interception just past the hour mark to seal their win.

The manner and timing of their move into pole position looks ominous for their top-flight rivals, not least long-time leaders Leeds who are now under pressure when they head to York on Sunday.

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It marked a fourth straight loss for Wakefield, who started well and were aggrieved to be denied the opening try when Oliver Pratt sent Max Jowitt sliding over, but he was ruled to have knocked on in the process of grounding.

Moments earlier, Wakefield rode their luck to stay level after a rare error from Bevan French, who sent Zach Eckersley over in the corner from a forward pass.

Luke Thompson came close for Wigan while Wakefield continued to benefit on the short side as a high-quality contest moved past the quarter-hour without a point on the board.

But Wigan proceeded to capitalise on a pair of Wakefield errors to run in three tries in the next 10 minutes and give themselves an almost insurmountable advantage.

French ruthlessly punished a careless pass by Jowitt by powering over the halfway line to open the scoring, and six minutes later Wigan built on a penalty pass with Kian McDermott's superb ball gifting Liam Marshall the second in the corner.

Marshall was in for his second almost immediately after another handling error gifted Wigan the advantage. Three kicks from Adam Keighran - coupled with a penalty on the hooter - sent Peet's men in at the interval four scores to the good.

Wakefield might have been all but resigned to another defeat but they will take great heart from the way they refused to accept the seemingly inevitable at the start of the second half.

They seized on a sustained spell of pressure to narrow the deficit on 52 minutes when Jake Trueman's clever kick eluded French and gave Corey Hall the chance to touch down.

Trinity pushed again on the back of a penalty and a repeat set, and could have further reduced the deficit but for Hall's foot straying into touch as he flicked the ball back for Jowitt to go over.

The visitors' hopes were finally dashed when a spill from Mike McMeeken sent Jai Field scurrying the length of the field to score Wigan's fourth. A late effort from Wakefield's Ky Rodwell made the final scoreline more respectable.

Leopards continue play-off charge with emphatic rout

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Leigh Leopards continued their charge for the play-offs with a 62-10 thumping of Bradford Bulls.

Adam Cook scored 30 points, slotting over all 11 kicks and crossing for two tries, with Leigh adding 48 points in a one-sided second half.

Robbie Mulhern scored the first try for the hosts in the 12th minute, with Cook adding the conversion and a penalty before poor handling by the Leopards led to Waqa Blake powering over in the corner for Bradford.

Louis Brogan ended a spell of Leigh pressure by scoring their second try to make it 14-4 at the break, and the tone for the second half was set from the opening moment.

Bradford fumbled the kick-off, allowing Innes Senior to go over in the corner, and the tries arrived thick and fast for the hosts.

Lachlan Lam started and finished a move in the 48th minute before playing in Cook, who chased down his own kick.
Senior then grabbed his second, Umyla Hanley finished off Lam's brilliant long pass and Joe Ofahengaue completed a flowing move with more than 10 minutes still remaining.

Cook then broke away for his second try and Lam finished off a brilliant individual performance with his second, although the final word went to Bradford and Eliot Peposhi.

It was a fourth win in a row for Leigh, who defeated Leeds Rhinos last week, and head coach Adrian Lam told Sky Sports: "Really happy with it, obviously a lot of confidence from last week's win. I thought throughout that second half especially we were unbelievable.

"Cook kicking at 100 per cent certainly helps. He's been under pressure during the season at times but a nice week for him to find his form."

The injury-hit Bulls slumped to the bottom of the table, with head coach Kurt Haggerty saying: "It was a very tough night. We competed for 40 minutes like we have done for the majority of the season.

"We got to a point where we were so many bodies down but some of the [defence] wasn't acceptable that we tossed up in the second half. We won't feel sorry for ourselves, I won't let the group feel sorry for ourselves. We've got three tasty games to go and we'll keep scrapping."

Sky Sports will show every game of the Super League live this season, including two matches each round exclusively live. The remaining five matches will be broadcast on Sky Sports+.