Leigh hold off Warrington to go third in Super League

Betfred Super League

Leigh (6) 18

Tries: Ipape, O'Neill, Halton Goals: O'Brien (3)

Warrington (2) 14

Tries: King, Ashton Goals: Sneyd (3)

Leigh Leopards held off a strong fightback to beat Warrington Wolves and claim third place in Super League.

Brilliant playmaker Lachlan Lam masterminded a dominant first hour from the Leopards as tries from Edwin Ipape, Ethan O'Neill and Frankie Halton looked to have put the home side out of sight.

The Wolves rallied as Toby King and Matty Ashton went over for tries to cut the lead to just four points, but Adrian Lam's team, whose defence has been key to their good form this season, held out.

Their third successive win takes Leopards above Hull FC and on to the shoulders of leaders Hull KR and Wigan Warriors.

The match was a dress rehearsal for the Challenge Cup semi-final on May 11, but Wolves also knew that a victory would move them above their local rivals following a run of four wins from their previous five games.

Hooker Danny Walker filled in for the absent George Williams, who had surgery on an ankle injury on Thursday, but the loss of the playmaker hit the Wolves badly.

In stark contrast the mercurial Lam was at the heart of everything for the home side at Leigh Sports Village.

He created chance after chance in the first half, but Halton spilled the ball after being set up by the Papua New Guinea international, who also teed up David Armstrong to touch down, and then dribbled the ball over for what looked like another score, only for both to be disallowed for infringements by team-mates following video reviews.

Zane Musgrove was held up over the line at the other end, and it seemed that Sneyd's early penalty was going to provide the only points of a tight first half.

Lam summoned one last piece of magic to change that, as he stepped through a gap and then flipped a pass up for Ipape to go over the line and give Leigh the half-time lead.

Lam then came up with a neat delayed pass to send O'Neill racing over the line, and as the Warrington defence kept a careful eye on their tormentor, it left room for his half-back partner Gareth O'Brien to send Halton over and make it 18-2 as O'Brien converted all three tries.

Warrington dug deep and when Sneyd unexpectedly kicked the ball through on the fifth tackle, Toby King dashed in to register their first try.

Then Matt Dufty made a sharp break and sent Matty Ashton over, and with Sneyd converting both tries they were suddenly within sight of a win, only for Leigh to shut up shop.

Warrington coach Sam Burgess told BBC Radio Merseyside:

"Parts of our game I was happy with. They're a physical side and tough to beat here, and we probably started the second half a little bit slowly and gave up two soft tries. It was a tough task after that.

"It was a great contest. We gave it a go and missed a couple of opportunities, or the game could have gone the other way.

"Danny [Walker] enjoyed it and if he settles into the role, the more time he gets there the better. I thought he had a great game."

Leigh Leopards: Armstrong; McIntosh, Hodgson, Brand, Charnley; O'Brien, Lam; Trout, Ipape, Mulhern, Halton, O'Neill, Liu.

Interchanges: Pene, Tuitavake, Davis, Hughes.

Warrington: Dufty. Thewlis, Tai, King, Ashton. Walker, Sneyd. Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Russell, Fitzgibbon, Currie.

Interchanges: Philbin, Crowther, Musgrove, Wood.

Referee: Tom Grant.