Leigh beat Wakefield to set up Wigan semi-final

Betfred Super League play-off eliminator

Leigh (18) 26

Tries: Brand, Liu, Charnley, Tuitavake Goals: O'Brien 5

Wakefield (0) 10

Tries: Myers, Scott Goal: Lino

Leigh Leopards swept aside Wakefield Trinity in the first Super League play-off eliminator to book their semi-final place.

The hosts finished nine points ahead of Trinity in the regular season and dominated the first half as tries from Keanan Brand, Isaac Liu and Josh Charnley put them 18-0 up at the break.

Jayden Myers' reply early in the second half gave Wakefield hope, but a Gareth O'Brien penalty and Alec Tuitavake's score meant Cameron Scott's superb solo try was mere consolation.

The win earned Leigh a short semi-final trip to second-placed Wigan as they bid to reach their first Grand Final.

Leigh went into the game looking to reach a second successive semi-final, while Trinity faced their first play-off appearance in 13 years after a stellar first season back in Super League.

Daryl Powell's side won 40-14 on their last visit to the Leopards Den and almost enjoyed a dream start when Josh Griffin charged down O'Brien's first-minute clearance kick but couldn't gather as a clear run to the line beckoned.

But that was as it got in the first half for the visitors who lost second rower Matty Storton to a leg injury within five minutes.

Leigh soon hit the front as slick passing created a two-on-one at the right edge where Umyla Hanley sent Brand in for his seventh try in four matches and a 17th Super League try of the season.

Frankie Halton was held up a metre short, while three tacklers combined to stop Hanley's charge for the line as Wakefield were penned deep in their own territory by rampant Leigh.

Trinity's goalline defence soaked up wave after wave of pressure, but a battered backline finally cracked in the face of Liu's powerful run.

Lachlan Lam maintained the almost relentless momentum with a 40-20, and a few plays later, the instrumental scrum-half fed Charnley to cross in the left corner.

The visitors badly needed the next try and got it within four minutes of the restart. Mason Lino's high kick rebounded back off O'Brien and the ball was quickly moved out to the right edge where Myers applied a super one-handed diving finish.

But an error from the restart immediately gifted O'Brien a momentum-stalling penalty before Tuitavake crashed over on the hour to put the hosts out of sight at 26-4.

A try out of nowhere gave Wakefield the final say as Scott weaved his way through a gap just inside the Leigh half and outpaced his chasers for a fine individual effort.

Isaac Liu scored Leigh's second try in a dominant first-half display

'Hopefully we can reproduce that next week' - reaction

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam told BBC Radio Manchester:

"That's what we're capable of when our attitude's right and there's effort to back that up. It's taken a long time to get to that point and hopefully we can reproduce that next week.

"I'm grateful because we were in this position last year with the last four, 80 minutes away from Old Trafford and we got touched up.

"I made a lot of changes because I knew we needed to do that to take that step forward.

"Whether or not this team's ready for that or not next week, we'll wait and see, but I'm just grateful that this set of players are starting to come together as a group."

Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:

"I thought Leigh came at a level a couple of notches above what we've seen before. I thought they were superb throughout.

"We were good second half and hung in, but we just didn't get enough right tonight. When we tried to force the game a bit we put the ball down every single time.

"I don't think we had many boys who would hold their hands up and say they were at their best tonight, and I don't think you can have that in these games.

"It's been a great season, but we got a lot of lessons handed to us tonight, both from Leigh and the game itself, and how you handle play-off games."

Leigh: Hodgson; Brand, Niu, Hanley, Charnley; O'Brien, Lam; Ofahengaue, Ipape, Mulhern, Halton, Trout, Liu.

Interchanges: Hughes, Tuitavake, Davis, Dwyer.

Wakefield: Rourke; Myers, Scott, Pratt, Johnstone; Trueman, Lino; McMeeken, Hood, Faatili, Griffin, Storton, Pitts.

Interchanges: Rodwell, Nikotemo, Atoni, Smith.

Referee: Liam Moore.