Reserves win at Leigh

• Match Report as Wigan Warriors Reserves beat Leigh Leopards Reserves.
• The Warriors crossed for five tries in the win at Golborne Parkside ARLFC.
• FT | Leigh Leopards Reserves 18-30 Wigan Warriors Reserves.

Wigan Warriors Reserves scored five tries to beat Leigh Leopards Reserves at Golborne Parkside ARLFC.

Despite falling behind to an early Leigh opener, the Warriors responded with tries from Harvey Makin, Tom Forber and George O’Loughlin to lead at the break.

An impressive second half showing saw Jack Purtill and Lukas Mason add further tries as the Warriors recorded a third straight Reserves League victory.

Report

The Warriors asked multiple questions of the Leigh defence in the early minutes with Makin almost crashing over for the opening points, however, the home side crossed first when Henry Parker powered through with eight minutes on the clock. Ben Tyrer added the extras to give the Leopards a 6-0 lead.

The Warriors responded perfectly to falling behind when Makin punished the Leigh defence just after Taylor Kerr had been held up over the line. Tom Ratchford successfully added the extras to level the contest mid-way through the half.

Wigan reapplied pressure from the restart as a kick and chase forced AJ Towse into conceding a drop out. The Warriors gained strong field position from the restart which eventually led to Forber picking up an crashing over between the sticks with Ratchford kicking the extras to put Wigan 12-6 ahead.

The Warriors added a third try just before the break when Jacob Douglas’ strong carry started an attack which was finished off by O’Loughlin. Ratchford continued his perfect kicking record to give the Warriors an 18-6 half time advantage.

An evenly matched start to the second half saw each side exchange sets before Leigh capitalised on a penalty to reduce the points difference. After Brough dived through for the Leopards’ second try of the game, Tyrer added the additional points to make the score 18-12.

Leigh were reduced to 12-players on the hour when Brad Dwyer was shown a yellow card for XX. The Warriors made the most of the numerical advantage when Jaiden Drachenberg broke free on the right before passing inside to Purill to score as Drachenberg successfully converted.

The Warriors added a fifth, and final, try in the closing stages when a sharp attack resulted in Mason diving over. Finlay Yeomans took over kicking duties, and his strike sailed through the posts to give Wigan a 30-12 lead with seven minutes to go.

The home side scored the last points of the contest inside the final minute when Boyd was the first to ground Brough’s deflected kick through. Tyrer maintained his perfect kicking record for a 30-18 final score.

Leigh Leopards Reserves: TJ Boyd, AJ Towse, Dylan Hughes, Andrew Badrock, Charles Robson, Will Brough, Ben Tyrer, Leyton Jupp, Brad Dwyer, Delaine Bedward, Bailey Pemberton, Henry Mills, Valu-Tane Bentley.

Interchange: Ralph Wood, Oliver Stankevitch, Tommy Porter, Callum Disley.

18th Player: Luke Sutcliffe.

Tries: Parker (10′), Brough (54′), Boyd (79′)

Goals: Tyrer (3/3).

Sin-Bin: Dwyer (59′).

Wigan Warriors Reserves: Noah Hodkinson, Josh Cartwright, Finlay Yeomans, Jaiden Drachenberg, Jacob Douglas, Tom Ratchford, Jack Purtill, Kian McDermott, Tom Forber, Harvey Makin, George O’Loughlin, Lukas Mason, Taylor Kerr.

Interchanges: George Marsden, Leo Wadsworth, Lewis Daniels, Shea O’Connor.

18th Player: Noah Forster.

Tries: Makin (23′), Forber (31′), O’Loughlin (38′), Purtill (64′), Mason (73′).

Goals: Ratchford (3/3), Drachenberg (1/1), Yeomans (1/1).