Impressive Trinity score seven tries to beat Leigh

Betfred Super League

Leigh (10) 14

Tries: Hanley, Brand, Halton Goals: O'Brien

Wakefield (18) 40

Tries: Russell 2, McMeeken 2, Johnstone 2, Hood Goals: Lino 6

Wakefield Trinity put in an impressive performance as they put seven tries past Leigh Leopards to register a third Super League win of the campaign.

Oliver Russell and Mike McMeeken motored the visitors into the lead but Umyla Hanley did well to find the space to get Leigh on the board in response.

Keanan Brand went over for Leigh's second and McMeeken scored his second just before the break, but Tom Johnstone put Wakefield out of sight after the restart when he ran in from long range after an intercept.

Frankie Halton went in to give Leigh hope after Liam Hood had further padded out Wakefield's lead, but Johnstone's second cross-field run-in of the night and Russell's cheeky late dot down sealed a stunning win for the visitors.

Wakefield were good value for their victory as they consigned Leigh to a second successive Super League defeat, playing Adrian Lam's side off the park for much of the 80 minutes.

Their first score came as McMeeken and Russell combined, with the former sending the latter through, and they were 12-0 up soon after as Liam Hood sent McMeeken over.

But Leigh did not take Wakefield's start lying down and they scored their first try after Gareth O'Brien sent Hanley through to touch down courtesy of a sumptuous free-flowing pass through the Trinity defence.

The hosts kept up the pressure and found a second at the end of another impressive move with Brand crashing over.

O'Brien thought he had crossed over with a rapid twist and turn right on the line but video referee Chris Kendall judged that he had knocked on moments before Josh Griffin had managed to scoop the ball out of his possession.

That was where any Leigh threat appeared to end, and the hosts were punished just before the half-time hooter when McMeeken touched down having prospered in the midst of a scramble from both sides for the ball from a high kick.

Johnstone showed searing pace to run in from deep inside his own half as he successfully intercepted the ball, and Hood displayed incredible strength to touch down to give Trinity what felt like an unassailable 20-point lead.

Halton helped bridge the gap with an impressive dash to the corner, but Leigh's fightback was quelled as O'Brien missed the extras and Johnstone galloped in for another audacious score from deep in his own half having done well to avoid knocking the ball on in the build-up.

Russell's second try, which came as he ran in unopposed in-goal, was emblematic of the contrasts in confidence between the two sides, and it wrapped up a supreme win for Daryl Powell's side before the two sides meet again next week in the Challenge Cup at Belle Vue.

For Lam and his Leigh side, there will be much to consider ahead of that quarter-final tie, as they have conceded 70 points in their past two games, having been on the receiving end of a 30-0 drubbing at Hull KR last time out.

Wakefield Trinity's Mike McMeeken (left) has now scored four tries this season

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam told BBC Radio Manchester:

"We sort of carried over our performance from last week and had a bit of a hangover for the first 20 minutes and conceded two or three easy, soft tries which is uncharacteristic of us.

"The second 20 minutes of the first half was a lot better. I thought we got our way back into the game and a real tough decision on the verge of half-time, a 12-point swing around with Gaz O'Brien's no try into Wakey's try, where it should have been 18-12 or 16-12 instead of 10-18.

"We weren't connected as a group for the whole game."

Wakefield Trinity head coach Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:

"I am obviously really pleased. It was a big performance from the boys. I think we're starting games well and I think it's taken a bit of time for us to get a handle on starting games well.

"They got pegged back a little bit, the momentum changed. I asked the boys what they thought of the game and they said they thought it was the toughest 40-point win they'd ever had.

"It was a close game in lots of ways and we play the same team again next week so they've got some motivation."

Leigh: Armstrong; Hodgson, Niu, Hanley, Brand; O'Brien, Lam; Trout, Dwyer, Hughes, Halton, O'Neill, Liu.

Interchanges: Brogan, Tuitavake, Davis, Ipape.

Wakefield: Rourke; Russell, Scott, Pratt, Johnstone; Lino, Russell; McMeeken, Hood, Hamlin-Uele, Griffin, Vagana, Pitts.

Interchanges: Rodwell, Cozza, Smith, Faatili.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths.