engage Super League Rd 14 Review

Leeds Rhinos 26
Tries:    Ablett, Hall, Webb, McGuire

Goals:   Sinfield 5

Warrington Wolves 16
Tries:    King, Grix, Harrison

Goals:   Bridge 2

Att:    16,733

Leeds Rhinos defeated Warrington Wolves in a bruising game at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.

The Wolves dominated the early possession as Leeds barely got out of their half and despite losing influential prop, England Captain Jamie Peacock to a serious looking leg injury, they only conceded one try from a smart kick from Lee Briers which was pounced on by Matt King.

In their best performance this season the Rhinos hit back and got on terms with a try from Carl Ablett. On 27-minutes Leeds took the lead after a cut out pass from Brett Webb found Ryan Hall who scored out wide. Kevin Sinfield added the conversion as the hosts went into the break with a 12-6 lead.

Early into the second half Keith Senior's run led to Webb going over and increasing the Rhinos lead. A 60-metre run from Lee Smith led to Chris Hicks being put in the sin-bin for holding down. Sinfield added the penalty and moments later Danny McGuire finished off Ablett's break to give Leeds a commanding 26-6 lead.

In the last 10 minutes of the game the Wolves had most of the ball and hit back with tries from Scott Grix and a good effort from youngster Ben Harrison. Leeds held on at the end and ran out winners to maintain their top eight place.

Wakefield Wildcats 10
Tries:    Murphy, Johnson

Goal:    Cooke

Bradford Bulls 29
Tries:    Nero 2, Menzies, Godwin, L'Estrange
Goals:   Sykes 4
Drop Goal: Sykes

Att:    5,381

Bradford Bulls produced another stirring second half comeback to deny Wakefield Wildcats at Hearwell Stadium Belle Vue.

Bradford made the early running but with their first attack, Wakefield took the lead after Aaron Murphy took Sean Gleeson's pass to score. On sixteen minutes the lead was increased as Paul Jonson took Leo-Latu's pass and burrowed his way over the line.

In the last seconds of the half Bradford cut the gap to 10-4 thanks to a Chris Nero try.

Two minutes into the second half the Bulls got on terms a neat kick from Heath L' Estrange was pounced on by Steve Menzies. Nero added his second of the game minutes later as the visitors took the lead for the first time in the game.

On 65-minutes Paul Sykes added a one pointer before the Bulls wrapped up the game with tries from Wayne Godwin and L'Estrange.

For Wakefield they suffered their sixth defeat on the bounce and the Bulls good run of only losing one game in nine continues.

Catalans Dragons 14

Tries:    Pelo, Raguin, Bell

Goals:   Bosc

Hull FC 28
Tries:    Fitzgibbon, O'Meley, Briscoe, Whiting, Tansey
Goals:   Tickle 4

Att:    6,512

Hull FC got back to winning ways as they ran out comfortable winner over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.

The Black and Whites welcomed back star players Craig Fitzgibbon and Sean Long as their confidence was boosted, and on 8-minutes England winger Tom Briscoe got them on their way as they dominated the first half.

Fitzgibbon, Mark O'Meley and Richard Whiting all touchdown as Hull led 22-4 at the break. Dimitri Pelo was Catalans try scorer.

The next score did not come until 69-minutes when Centre Sebastien Raguin went over for the hosts.

The win was sealed for the visitors when Jordan Tansey stripped the ball off Dane Carlaw to score. Steven Bell added a late consolation for the French outfit but they remained cast adrift at the bottom of the Engage Super League table.

Salford City Reds 42
Tries:    M. Smith 3, Holdsworth, Gibson 2, Broughton, Boyle
Goals:   Holdsworth 5

St Helens 34
Tries:    Graham 2, Eastmond, Wellens, Gardner, Moore
Goals:   Eastmond 5

Att:    5,685

Salford City Reds shocked St Helens as they took the points in a try fest at the Willows.

After being hammered out of sight at Murrayfield in their last outing, the Reds got off to a fast start and took the lead with tries from on loan scrum-half Matty Smith, who scored against his parent club and Daniel Holdsworth.

St Helens rallied through James Graham, Paul Wellens and Kyle Eastmond but Smith added his second and Ashley Gibson crossed the line to give Salford a deserved 22-18 half-time lead.

On 48-minutes Smith completed his first hat-trick in senior football but once again the visitors hit back thorough Ade Gardner. In a spell of topsy turvey rugby Gibson slipped past Moore to again stretch Salford's lead, only for Saints to close to within two points when Eastmond converted Graham's second try.

Jodie Broughton gave the Reds a 36-30 lead but Scott Moore gave St Helens some hope with an unconverted try.

Young Prop Ryan Boyle sealed the Reds' win when he bundled his way over the line on 77-minutes as St Helens failed to make ground on leaders Wigan Warriors.

Harlequins RL 40
Tries:    Melling, Penny, Randall 2, Williamson, Orr, Howell
Goals:   Orr 4, Gale 2

Castleford Tigers 24
Tries:    Westerman, Ferres, Higgins, Snitch
Goals:   Westerman 4

Att:    2,941

Harlequins RL stunned Castleford Tigers by scoring four tries in the last twelve minutes to snatch victory at the Stoop.

Quins continued their recent good from and scored early through Chris Melling. Kevin Penny put the hosts further ahead as he ran on to Luke Gale's superb chip. Rangi Chase intercepted Luke Dorn's pass and this led to Joe Westerman getting the Tigers on the scoreboard with a try underneath the posts.

On the 30-minute mark a neat passing play sent Chad Randall away as the Londoners increased their lead.  But Castleford would not lie down and with two quick-fire tries from Brett Ferres and Liam Higgins they went into the break with an 18-16 advantage.

A Westerman break on 55-minutets set up Steve Snitch as the visitors took their lead to 24-16. However, with 12 minutes remaining Quins stunned the Tigers and roared back to snatch an unlikely win. Randall raced clear for his second, then two minutes later Williamson bustled over to put the Hosts back in front.

Danny Orr burrowed over for a match-clinching effort with five minutes to go and David Howell's rounded the game off with a last minute score as Quins moved to within six points of the top eight.

Huddersfield Giants 30
Tries:    Cudjoe, D Hodgson 3, Whaturia, Crabtree
Goals:   B Hodgson 3

Wigan Warriors 38
Tries:    J Tomkins 2, Carmont, Goulding 2, Coley
Goals:   Richards 7

Att:    8,390

Wigan Warriors moved four points clear at the top of the Engage Super League table with victory over Huddersfield Giants in a high scoring game at Galpharm Stadium.

Danny Brough put the kick-off out on the full in the dead ball area and this led to Joel Tomkins going over and given the league leaders the early advantage. George Carmont increased the visitors lead.

However, the Giants found their form and hit back to lead 20-12. Brett Hodgson led the way as he set up Leroy Cudjoe and David Hodgson. He also combined with Brough to setup Paul Whaturia for a good try. Just before the break Joel Tomkins' superb flick pass set up Darrell Goulding to cut the lead to just two points.

Immediately after the re-start Tomkins scored his second of the game. Andy Coley forced his way over for a close-range try on 48 minutes and Richards kicked his fifth goal to make it 30-20. But Coley became the second Wigan player sin-binned after holding down Brough and England prop Earl Crabtree forced his way through on the hour to give the Giants some hope.

David Hodgson scored his hat-trick as the game was all tied up at 30-30. The crucial try came from Goulding; his second of the match and Pat Richards made the game safe for Wigan with a last minute penalty.

Hull KR 54
Tries:    Newton 2, Cockayne, Dobson 3, Watts, Fox, Welham
Goals:   Dobson 9

Crusaders 10
Tries:    Raynor, Sammut
Goals:   Withers

Att:    7,273

Hull KR ran in nine tries as they hammered Crusaders at Craven Park.

After being hammered themselves on their last outing by St Helens, Rovers showed their intent in the first half as they effectively won the game going into the break with a 30-4 lead.

Clint Newton, Ben Cockayne and Mick Dobson went over early for the Robins, but Gareth Raynor replied for the Crusaders and they also had a try ruled out for a forward pass.  This proved crucial as Dobson crossed twice more before half-time to complete his hat-trick.

Crusaders had most of the possession in the opening 10 minutes of the second period but Newton snatched Jarrod Sammut's ambitious pass and ran clear before the Crusaders scrum-half managed to cap an impressive display with a try of his own.

Rovers then upped the tempo and ran away with the game with scores from Liam Watts, Peter Fox and Kris Welham to claim a valuable win.