You can guarantee that Adrian Lam’s Leigh Leopards will not give up on a play-off place until it is mathematically impossible for them to achieve a top six finish and with seven rounds to play they are still in the game as they hosted a forlorn Hull FC side who are anxiously looking over their shoulders at the London Broncos and last spot.
The visitors were given a twenty-two-point start on the handicap coupon illustrating that the bookies believed that they had little to no chance of grabbing the win and breaking Leigh hearts but after the Rhinos big victory over Wigan last night there was nothing certain about any outcome in the closing rounds of Super League 2024.
The sinbinning of Will Gardiner and back-to-back penalties in the Leopards favour on sixteen resulted in the first points of the game with Kai O’Donnell making the most of the space and confusion created by two awful Leigh passes to run the diagonal towards the posts and dive in to slide over. Darnell McIntosh added the conversion to settle the Leopards nerves.
On twenty-seven Tom Amone burrowed over the line but neither the referee or video referee could see the ball grounded and the try was denied. Leigh were totally dominant and on the half hour a short pass from Lachlan Lam hit a charging Frankie Halton who bust through the gap to score with ease.
A sixty metre try on thirty-three saw Hull back in the game. Logan Moy was the beneficiary of a Carlos Tuimavave break down the centre of the field as he took the pass twenty out and outpaced the Leigh defenders before crossing by the right upright. Jack Charles added the conversion, the deficit now just six points.
Three minutes from the interval McIntosh was sinbinned for lifting in the tackle, Leigh now looking to get to the interval with a points advantage nut just a minute later Harvey Barron spun in the tackle and forced the ball to the ground against the twelve men. Charles converted in off the far post and the sides were all square at the interval with everything to play for despite the home sides first half dominance.
The sides were only equal for four minutes before Leigh hot the front again, O’Donnell chasing down a Lan grubber into goal and diving on it to ground. The conversion attempt was wide from Hardaker as he took over the duties with McIntosh still benched.
O’Donnell turned from try scorer to try maker as the second rower went for the line again before passing to Hardaker to canter in from eight metres and give McIntosh a simple conversion for a ten-point lead.
On fifty-eight Leigh were back down to twelve with Owen Trout sinbinned for a head-on-head tackle with Barron, the Leigh sub not making any effort to avoid the impact.
The winning try came on sixty-two as McIntosh held his wing to take a long looping pass from Lam to go in down the right side. McIntosh made an awful mess of his conversion attempt, Leigh with a fourteen-point lead.
O’Donnell completed his hat-trick on sixty-seven as he picked up a ricochet off a Lam kick and stumbled his way to the line to dive over. McIntosh was wide with his conversion attempt.
It was all one-way traffic in the second half with O’Donnell getting his fourth of the afternoon as he pushed through four tacklers, again off a Lam pass, to drop over the line. Hardaker found the target with the conversion attempt for 36-12, it now looking like a very comfortable win for Leigh in a game where they were all-square at half time.
With a minute left, and Hull exhausted, Hardaker went through an enormous gap to bring up the forty in front of a jubilant crowd. Hardaker added the conversion, and the hooter sounded the end of the game.
Despite the scores being level at half time, this was a game which the Leopards dominated from the first whistle to the final hooter. Leigh romped to a good early lead but excellent hard work and a little bot of luck saw the Black and Whites claw back two tries to give them some hope at the break. The door was well and truly slammed shut in the second half with a fluid Leigh performance and some scintillating tries thanks to the mercurial properties of Lachlan Lam, the boss’s son controlling the game in midfield and providing the killer pass for so many of the eight tries. Leigh still hold on to an outside hope of the play-offs, but they do need a miracle.
Leigh Leopards: Hardaker (2T, 2/3 G), McIntosh (T, 3/5 G, SB on 37), Hanley, Leutele, Charnley, Hughes, Lam Amone, Ipape, Mulhern. O’Donnell (4T), Halton (T), Asiata. Subs: Dwyer, Davis, Pene, Trout (SB on 58). 18th Man: Hodgson.
Hull FC: Moy (T), Barron (T), Tuimavave, Briscoe, Martin, Walker, Charles (2/2 G), Ese’ese, Smith, Aydin, Cartwright, Ruan, Gardiner (SB on 18). Subs: Balmforth, Chan, Eseh, Jebson. 18th Man: Kirby.
Half-Time: 12-12.
Full-Time: 42-12.
Score Progression: (SB), 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 12-4, 12-6, (SB), 12-10, 12-12 :HT: 16-12, 20-12, 22-12, (SB), 26-12, 30-12, 34-12, 36-12, 40-12, 42-12 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Leigh – Square - Leigh.
Referee: Jack Smith.
