Wigan beaten at Leigh

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors fell to defeat against Leigh Leopards.
• Jake Wardle crossed for a first half try at Leigh Sports Village.
• FT | Leigh Leopards 18-8 Wigan Warriors.

MATCH REPORT AS WIGAN WARRIORS FELL TO a ROUND 17 DEFEAT AGAINST LEIGH LEOPARDS AT LEIGH SPORTS VILLAGE.

It was the third meeting between the clubs this season following Leopards’ 1-0 win on the opening night of the season and Wigan’s 36-28 win seven weeks ago.

The Warriors welcomed back Abbas Miski after missing six games following knee surgery he required after the Magic Weekend victory over Warrington Wolves. Liam Marshall returned to the starting line up after missing last week’s win over Castleford Tigers with an ankle injury.

Report

Harry Smith kicked the game off on his 150th Wigan Warriors appearance as the early exchanges of the contest were fierce as you would expect in any Battle of the Borough fixture.

After Wigan got a re-set on five minutes from Umyla Hanley’s attempted intercept, the Warriors used this to their advantage when Jake Wardle side-stepped two attempted tackles to touch down. Adam Keighran took his time with the conversion as the ball sailed between the sticks.

Leigh started to build some momentum and were awarded a penalty mid-way in the Wigan half for a high shot. The Leopards wasted the opportunity as Marshall intercepted to race down field but he seemed to pull up and had to take the tackle.

Wigan upped the tempo and attacked the Leigh defence but were halted when referee Smith adjudged Brad O’Neill of a forward pass to Jack Farrimond. Leigh thought they had scored on 17  minutes when Frankie Halton attempted to touch a kick through down, but the video referee ruled the ball had not been grounded.

Keighran produced a huge hit on Halton forcing him to spill the ball before Josh Charnley broke clear on 25 minutes, but was tackled 30 metres from the line as Wigan’s defence held firm.

An end-to-end battle saw Miski almost broke the line on 29 minutes but was tackled ten metres out. After Junior Nsemba had to leave shortly afterwards for a HIA – which he later passed – Wigan were forced onto the backfoot after a misunderstanding in the middle, but a swarming defence snuffed out the Leigh attack.

Keighran added two more points with a kick from 35 metres to give the Warriors an 8-0 lead at the break after Leigh were penalised for an offside after Byrne had forced possession to come loose.

Junior Nsemba passed his HIA assessment to return at the start of the second half as Farrimond looked to have broken clear before referee Jack Smith halted the game for a knock on.

Leigh broke through shortly after when Tesi Niu broke through the challenge to touch down in the corner with O’Brien’s touchline conversion reducing the points difference further.

Both sides upped the intensity in a game that was moving from end-to-end at rapid pace. Leigh took the lead for the first time when a sweeping move down Wigan’s left edge saw the home side attack in numbers sending Edwin Ipape over between the posts. O’Brien converted to make the score 12-8.

Leigh were buoyed by the try and mounted another attack down Wigan’s right edge. O’Brien chipped the ball into the corner, Trout leapt high to challenge Field. The ball appeared to hit Halton on the head as Charnley touched the ball down, but the score was denied with the winger in an offside position.

Wigan tried in vain to fight their way back as Field mounted an attack before being stopped by Ipape, but the home side scored the final points in the last minute when Trout pounced on a loose ball. O’Brien converted to give Leigh an 18-8 victory.

Leigh Leopards: Bailey Hodgson, Keanan Brand, Tesi Niu, Umyla Hanley, Josh Charnley, Gaz O’Brien, Lachlan Lam, Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Joe Ofahengaue, Frankie Halton, Ethan O’Neill, Isaac Liu.

Interchanges: Jack Hughes, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis, Ben McNamara.

18th Player: Andrew Badrock.

Tries: Niu (51′), Ipape (58′), Trout (79′).

Goals: O’Brien (3/3).

Wigan Warriors: Jai Field, Abbas Miski, Adam Keighran, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall, Jack Farrimond, Harry Smith, Tyler Dupree, Brad O’Neill, Luke Thompson, Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell, Kaide Ellis.

Interchanges: Ethan Havard, Patrick Mago, Liam Byrne, Kruise Leeming.

18th Player: Zach Eckersley.

Tries: Wardle (5′).

Goals: Keighran (2/2).

Attendance: 10,375.