First Utility Super League XIX - Round 26 Review

St Helens 12

Tries: McDonnell, Manu
Goals: Makinson 2

Warrington Wolves 39

Tries: Ratchford, M. Monaghan, O'Brien, J. Monaghan 2, Myler, Atkins
Goals: Ratchford 4, O'Brien
Drop Goal: Myler

Att: 12,854

Warrington Wolves gatecrashed the party as they kept St Helens waiting for the League Leaders Shield with a big win at Langtree Park.

Saints needed only a point to ensure they would finish top of the First Utility Super League for the first time since 2008 but Warrington were looking for the win which would keep them in the hunt for second spot.

Skipper Paul Wellens got St Helens on their way by passing out of the tackle and this led to Shannon McDonnell going over underneath the posts after just three minutes.

The Wolves were soon back on terms as on the back of a string of penalties, Stefan Ratchford showed the dummy as he touchdown.

On 17 minutes loose forward Simon Grix was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected broken ankle but this inspired the visitors who then blew Saints way with three tries in five minutes.

Michael Monaghan dummied his way over from acting half and then the hooker setup his brother Joel for the next as Warrington moved through the gears.

O'Brien got the third with another dummy as the lead went out to 22-6 after 25 minutes. Willie Manu reduced the gap with a gallop to the line.

Richard Myler added a drop goal on the stroke of half-time as the Wolves were good value for their 23-12 lead.

It got even better for visitors as six minutes into the second half Myler took Micky Higham's pass to dummy his way over for their fifth try.

Joel Monaghan and Ryan Atkins added further scores as Warrington claimed the points and setup next week's mouth-watering final game of the regular season at other title chasing rivals Wigan Warriors.

For Saints if they avoid defeat at Huddersfield they will claim the League Leaders Shield and pole position going into the play-offs.

Wigan Warriors 21

Tries: Burgess, Smith, Flower
Goals: Smith 3
Drop Goal: Smith

Leeds Rhinos 6

Tries: Sutcliffe
Goals: Sinfield

Att: 20,265

Wigan Warriors got back to winning ways by claiming a hard-fought win over Leeds Rhinos at the D.W. Stadium.

Both these side came into this game looking to improve their league form. The Warriors had one win in their last four games and the Rhinos, despite winning at Wembley, had lost their last three Super League games.

The early minutes of the game was a war of attrition as both sides went at each other in-front of the biggest crowd in the Super League this year.

Wigan got the first break as veteran former Cowboys Full-Back was held short of the line and soon after Blake Green's kick to corner was pounced on by Joe Burgess.

Scrum-half Matty Smith added the conversion and then intercepted a pass from Leeds full-back Zak Hardaker to race 30 metres unopposed to the line.

Smith kicked his second conversion and a last minute penalty as the Warriors led 14-0 at the break.

Leeds hit back in the second half but it came in fortuitous fashion after Wigan passing broke down on halfway. Jimmy Keinhorst hacked the ball ahead and when Ryan Hall beat his England team-mate Josh Charnley to the loose ball Liam Sutcliffe was in support to race over at the corner.

Kevin Sinfield's kicked a touchline conversion as the men from Headingley were back in the game.

However, after coming close through Dan Sarginson, Wigan won the game when prop Ben Flower crashed over the line after good work by Sean O'Loughlin.

Smith landed his fourth goal and put more icing on the win with a last minute drop goal as Wigan virtually booked themselves a top four finish as the Rhinos look like finishing sixth at the best.

Bradford Bulls 12

Tries: Olbison, Walker
Goals: Gale 2

Widnes Vikings 32

Tries: Flynn 2, Marsh 3, Ah Van, White
Goals: Phelps 2

Att: 7,438

Widnes Vikings guaranteed thier top eight finish with a comfortable win over Bradford Bulls at the Provident Stadium Odsal.

Widnes needed a point to book thier place in the end of season play-offs as the relegated Bradford Bulls were looking to go out on a high in their last home match in Super League for at least a year.

Danny Tickle got the Vikings off to a good start as his long pass sent Paddy Flynn over in the corner after just two minutes. The winger was in again five minutes later. Danny Tickle who was having an off day with the boot failed again.

But, the Bulls would not throw the in and they hit back just three minutes later with Tom Olbison crashing over the line and on 24 minutes they took the lead when Chev Walker powered his way through a ruck of players . Luke Gale made no mistake with his second goal as Bradford led 12-8 at the break.

Early into the second half, the gaem was all square as Stefan Marsh scored his side's third unconverted try and soon after Marsh struck again for a carbon copy score as the Vikings led 16-12.

In the final ten minutes of the game Widnes took the game away from Bradford with three unanswered touchdowns. Marsh completed his hat-trick from a Brown pass and then former Bulls winger Ah Van grabbed another. Cameron Phelps took over the kicking and kicked the extras.

There was still time for Lloyd White to put then icing on the cake as the Vikings claimed the points.

Huddersfield Giants 38

Tries: Connor 2, Faiumu, Broughton 2, Ferres, Mullally, McGillvary
Goals: Brough 3

Hull FC 28

Tries: Houghton, Heremaia, Shaul, Thompson, Ellis
Goals: Rankin 4

Att: 6,370

Huddersfield Giants came from behind to see off Hull FC at the John Smith's Stadium.

Hull got off to a flying start and led by Jordan Rankin who's kicking caused problems to the Giants defence which resulted in Danny Houghton scoring the games first try.

The hosts got on terms when Shaun Lunt played in Jake Connor, but Hull soon got back in front when Aaron Heremaia got his sides second score. Another kick by Rankin setup The Blacks and Whites third try for Jamie Saul as they led 18-6 on the half hour.

However, two scores in the last eight minutes of the first half suddenly gave Huddersfield some confidence David Faiumu got the first before Connor made it a double when he exchanged passes with Craig Kopczak as the gap was dwon to 18-14 at the interval.

Jordan Thompson dived over to make it 22-14 to Hull in the 50th minute as Hull looked to be on course for a season's double over the Giants.

However, the hosts stayed on course for a top four finish when they hit back with three tries in eight minutes that turned the game on its head.

Jodie Broughton got the first then Brett Ferres put Huddersfield in front for the first time with Anthony Mullally getting the all important third.

Gareth Ellis pulled one back for Hull but further scores from Jermaine McGillvary and a last minute one from Broughton extended the home side unbeaten run to six games as they setup next week's final game, in the regular season , against St Helen where a win will give them a top four finish.

Hull KR 14

Tries: Salter, Hallett, Chan
Goals: Burns

Catalan Dragons 32

Tries: Oldfield 3, Williams 2, Escare
Goals: Bosc 4

Att: 6,412

Catalan Dragons claimed only their fourth away win of the season as they denied Hull KR a play-off place with victory at the KC Lightstream Stadium.

Rovers were in last chance saloon as only a win over Catalan Dragons would keep alive thier slim hopes of making the eight and they took the lead in the ninth minute when quick hands from Craig Hall led to Liam Salter squeezing in at the corner.

The Dragons hit back to lead 12-6 with two tries of thier own. Elliott Whitehead and Ben Pomeroy combined to send Michael Oldfield away for the Dragons' first try and then the flying winger took Whitehead ' offloaded to make it a double with a 60-meter run to the line.

Just before the break the gap was cut to 12-10 when Macauley Hallett, making his Rovers debut, made it a day to remember as he took Greg Eden's long pass to spin over the line.

Jason Chan put the hosts back in front as he bounced out of several tackles at the start of the second half and in end-to-end stuff the Frenchside made it 18-14 when Sam Williams took a quick penalty tap and ran 65 meters to score.

In the final 10 minutes of the match, Catalan put the game to bed when Oldfield completed his hat-trick and then Williams scored his second try six minutes from time.

There was still time for flying Full-back Morgan Escare to claim his 25th try of the season as Rovers were put out of thier misery as the Dragons look forward to the play-offs.

Salford Red Devils 58

Tries: Lee, Walne, J. Griffin 3, Jonson 3, Tomkins, Walton
Goals: Griffin 9

London Broncos 26

Tries: Atkins, Macani, Cook, Drinkwater, Slyney
Goals: Drinkwater 3

Att: 3,268

Salford Red Devils put aside a dismal week by hammering London Broncos at the A J Bell Stadium.

Red Devils owner Marwan Koukash cancelled the player's end-of-season party following last Sunday's 42-6 defeat at Wakefield and then granted the former Wigan and England forward Gareth Hock a transfer in a week to forget for Salford.

Koukash then granted Gareth Hock's transfer request in midweek with the still suspended for making contact with a referee.

Tommy Lee got the hosts on thier way as he finished off a break by Theo Fages' break. On 22-minutes Rangi Chase began to dictate play and his superb timed pass sent prop Jordan Walne powering over the lead to make it 12-0.

The Londoners soon got back into the game when Josh Drinkwater's long ball put Jordan Atkins over in the corner, but the comeback was short lived as the Red Devils ran in three further scores in the first half to lead 30-4 at the break.

Josh Griffin got on the end of Chase's kick for the first then Greg Johnson superbly powered onto Junior Sau pass for the second score.

Logan Tomkins added a fifth try just before the interval from a pass by Griffin, who maintained kicked his fifth goal of the half.

Iliess Macani scored the first try of the second half as the Broncos reduced the arrears. There were soon on the back foot as Jason Walton scored a sixth try for the hosts.

Griffin then added his second try after a slick move involving Harrison Hansen and Chase and Johnson also made it a double before Griffin scored his hat-trick as the fifty point barrier was broken.

London did show some sprit and hit back with three tries from Matt Cook, Drinkwater and Nick Slyney who had an easy stroll to the line

But Johnson would complete his hat-trick in the last minute of the game in a big win for the Red Devils.

Castleford Tigers 26

Tries: Dorn, Claire 2 Dixon, Webster
Goals: Sneyd 3

Wakefield Wildcats 22

Tries: Gilmour, Riley, Anderson, Owen
Goals: Sykes 3

Att: 9,182

Castleford Tigers held on against neighbours Wakefield Wildcats to keep alive thier hopes of the League Leaders Shield.

After Saints lost to Warrington on Thursday night, the Tigers needed a win in order to keep alive thier hopes of finishing top of the table at the end of the regular season and they would be tested by Wakefield Wildcats who travelled to a packed Mend-Hose-Jungle determined to derail them.

Full-back Luke Dorn slicing through for the opening try of the game early on and then after good work by hooker Daryl Clark, on two occasions, left winger James Clare helped himself to a quickfire brace. Kirk Dixon also came up with a devastating finish on 32 minutes, taking Clark's pass to go round Chris Riley for his side's fourth try.

Marc Sneyd's third goal made it 22-0 but the Tigers conceded twice before the break as Wakefield got some hope. Lee Gilmour got the first by scoring against his parent club and then Dixon fumbled Tim Smith's high kick to gift a try to Riley as the lead was down to 22-10.

The third quarter was full on as both sides would not take a backward step and it was Jake Webster who swooped on Sneyd's kick which broke the deadlock on 67 minutes.

However, the Wildcats would not go away and they set up a frantic finish by scoring two tries in the last 10 minutes. Scott Anderson pounced on a loose ball to register the first try of his career and another Castleford loanee Richard Owen dived over at the corner with seven minutes remaining.

But, Cas held thier nerves to claim the points to setup a Grand Finale next week. If current leaders St Helens lose at Huddersfield and the Tigers beat Catalan Dragons in Perpignan next weekend, they will claim top spot and the League Leaders Shield.

First Utility Super League Ladder after Round 26