WARRINGTON WOLVES 26LEIGH CENTURIONS 22
Dave Parkinson from the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Leigh Centurions gave Warrington Wolves a real fright with an impressive performance at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Leading 14-10 at the interval thanks to tries from Jason Kent and Rob Smyth, and 3 goals from the boot of Phil Jones, the Centurions were well worth their lead and although they could not hang on for victory there were lots of positive signs for the Centurions coaching staff to work on.
Darren Abram speaking afterwards said of the game "It was a big improvement on last week's performance but I thought we should have won this game. Not many teams will come to the Halliwell Jones and come away with two points. We should have got that today.
"We moved a bit away from the gameplan that we had in the first half and after forty minutes we were the better team - the scoreboard showed it.
"Our kicking game in the second half fell down. Lee Briers was superb - every kick that he did asked questions of our back three and Warrington's kick-chase was superb too.
"I was very pleased with our discipline today. There's loads to build on. It's just a pity that we didn't come away with the two points."
Warrington started well, eager to make amends for their shock opening day loss in London and had their first opportunity after just three minutes when hooker Mark Gleeson momentarily broke but could not keep hold of the ball following a textbook one-on-one tackle from Leigh skipper Jason Ferris.
The Wolves, offering a little more invention, cut Leigh open a second time when Briers put NZ international Henry Fa'afili into space and he drew fullback Ben Cooper before turning the ball inside for Jon Clarke to score under the sticks. Briers converted and the next ten minutes were all Warrington with the visitors getting through a ton of defensive work. Dean Gaskell and Nathan Wood both showed their pace only for Leigh to track back and deny them.
Sticking doggedly to the task, Leigh harried and harassed Warrington and the visitors seemed to lift when an almighty charge from Craig Stapleton swatted aside hooker Gleeson in midfield.
Finally Leigh's moment came after 23 minutes when Fa'afila offloaded on the last tackle only to see Jason Kent snap the ball up and run 75 metres. He just had enough pace to hold off the closing cover to the corner. Jones struck a magnificent touchline conversion and followed that with another well-struck effort when Ferris threaded a kick behind the Wolves goal line and Brent Grose kicked the ball dead only to see Smyth get there first with an athletic leap any salmon would have been proud of!
Warrington were under the cosh and compounded matters with several handling errors in the face of stern defence and when James King was obstructed on the line, Jones was on hand to make it 14-6.
Leigh saw their line breached four minutes from the break when Briers kick gave Warrington a repeat set and the halfback laid a ball out to Martin Gleeson for the centre to evade Jones and score but the visitors were well worth their slender advantage.The Wolves regained the lead after two minutes of the second half when Briers inviting grubber kick was touched down by Nathan Wood for a converted try under the posts.
Leigh had the chance to tie things up ten minutes later with a penalty for interference but Jones saw this more kickable attempt go wide. It was all Leigh, but they couldn't get through the defence despite a good chip and chase for Jones and Smyth by Cooper.Sensing the visitors were close to scoring a try, Warrington gave away a penalty for holding down and Jones made it all square on 62 minutes.
A further chance fell to Jones moments later when Grose completely misread an innocuous kick from Kent but he could not control the ball with his foot.A high quality game was reaching fever pitch and finally swung back in the Wolves favour thanks to the kicking and prompting of Briers. First his kick trapped Smyth behind the line, and then he created space brilliantly for centre Gleeson to exploit, forcing the best of tackles from Cooper.
Leigh could not hold out however and Clarke scored his second of the game from close range.
With seven minutes left, Warrington all but secured the points when Briers supported Mark Gleeson and finished from 25 metres but Leigh had other ideas, clawing a converted try back from Ferris, toe-poking past Grose after Mark Leafa's delightful grubber kick.
Unfortunately for the Centurions however, time and luck just ran out when the enthusiastic John Duffy was penalised in possession on halfway in the final minute.
Warrington coach Paul Cullen was full of praise for the Centurions effort.
"The Leigh completion rate from our stats for the full game was 90% - a very, very decent effort from Leigh. They completed, they kicked and chased, and worked exceptionally hard. They need to be credited for a whole-hearted effort. They are an enthusiastic side and a very hard working side. As we found out today, if you give them ball, if you give them field position they will test your defence."
"We had a twenty minute spell where we never completed a set. We can't continue that way and it needs to be corrected. I was happy with the way that we constructed our play today. Lee Briers simply punished Leigh with every time he completed a kick and turned them back around."
MATCH FACTS:
Warrington Wolves
1. Brent Grose
2. Henry Fa'afili
3. Martin Gleeson
4. Toa Kohe Love
5. Dean Gaskell
6. Lee Briers
7. Nathan Wood
8. Chris Leikvoll
14. Mark Gleeson
10. Mark Hilton
11. Logan Swann
12. Mike Wainwright
9. Jon Clarke
Replacements:
15. Ben Westwood
17. Danny Lima
13. Paul Noone
20. Warren Stevens
Tries: Clarke (6, 70) Martin Gleeson (36), Wood (42), Briers (73)
Goals: Briers 3/5.
Leigh Centurions
1. Ben Cooper
24. John Wilshere
8. Rob Jackson
9. Phil Jones
19. Rob Smyth
10. Jason Kent
2. John Duffy
20. Craig Stapleton
3. Jason Ferris
21. Matt Sturm
11. James King
16. Steve McCurrie
13. Mark Leafa
Replacements:
18. Paul Rowley
7. Kevin Henderson
25. Richard Moore
23. Ian Knott
Tries: Kent (23), Smyth (25), Ferris (76)
Goals: Jones 5/6.
Man of the MatchLeigh: Jason Ferris - again full of running, organisation and enthusiasm.
Warrington: Lee Briers - just had that touch of class to separate the sides.
Penalties: 6-8
Halftime Score: 14-10 to Leigh
Attendance: 11,412
Progressive Scores:6-0, 6-6, 6-12, 6-14, 10-14, 16-14, 16-16, 20-16, 26-16, 26-22.
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