WARRINGTON Wolves suffered a cruel late defeat as they went down 20-16 to Leigh Leopards.
The return of Danny Walker off the bench helped to spark Sam Burgess’ side to push Super League’s in-form side, and they were unlucky not to come away with the points.
It took 20 minutes or so for the first points of the game, coming from a Marc Sneyd penalty, and it felt similar to the previous league meeting at Leigh Sports Village which Leigh led 6-2 at half time.
This time Leigh were kept try-less in the first half and after they had equalised the score at 2-2, Warrington broke the stalemate with a stunning score.
With everyone seemingly waiting for a penalty to be given for a late tackle by Tesi Niu on Ben Currie, Josh Thewlis raced away, weaving through several Leigh defenders and then putting Matt Dufty around the full-back to race in under the posts in front of the travelling Warrington fans.
A drop goal attempt by Sneyd was charged down late in the first half but the Wolves were good value for their 8-2 lead.
A Sneyd penalty extended that lead to 10-2 before another fine try extended the lead. A loose pass had fallen behind Lachlan Fitzgibbon but he recovered the ball, offloaded to Toby King who found George Williams, and his grubber kick sat up kindly for Jake Thewlis to touch down.
Leigh just couldn’t break Warrington down but found a way back in to the match on 67 minutes, when a short kick close to the line touched a Wolves hand on the way through and Umyla Hanley was first on the scene to touch down.
Warrington restored a two score advantage when Sneyd slotted a penalty from 45 metres out for 16-8.
But it wasn’t enough as Leigh turned things round in the final six minutes. A reverse play on the last saw Hanley power over from close range and then after a repeat set was forced 15 metres out, Owen Trout surged over from close range.
Leigh: Hodgson, Brand, Niu, Hanley, Charnley, O’Brien, Lam, Trout, Ipape, Ofahengaue, Halton, Hughes, Liu. Subs: McNamara, Tuitavake, Davis, Badrock
Warrington: Dufty, Josh Thewlis, Wrench, King, Jake Thewlis, Williams, Sneyd, Yates, Powell, Vaughan, Fitzgibbon, Stone, Currie. Subs: Philbin, Matterson, Wood, Walker.
