With two Super League scalps already under their belt, the Leigh Centurions bandwagon rolled into Warrington and the Halliwell-Jones Stadium, to try and spring a cup upset on the Wolves.
Tony Smith's side were without a win in their last two matches and up against a Leigh side with just one loss all season, that on the road at the London Broncos. The bookies had made Leigh the underdogs but few people would expect anything less than one hundred percent from the visitors and a close match.
The next eighty minutes would show us which of these two sides would be joining Hull KR and Leeds Rhinos in tomorrow afternoons draw.
The first try went in favour of the Super League side on ten minutes when they took advantage of a penalty for interference at the play-the-ball for Chris Hill pass to Ashton Sims to go through a gap and score by the posts. O'Brien kicked the conversion for 6-0.
The Leigh response came within a couple of minutes when Ryan Brierley put in a gentle grubber kick and Greg Worthington touched down unopposed. Martyn Ridyard kicked a difficult conversion to level the scores. It was clear that Warrington weren't going to have this all their own way.
On eighteen there was a Warrington one-on-one ball steal by Ben Harrison on Bob Beswick and the loose ball was picked up by Ben Currie who ran the angle to score with plenty of support in hand. O'Brien kicked the two.
Once again Leigh struck straight back. When Warrington spilled their own high kick, Ryan Brierley picked up the loose ball and went seventy metres outpacing the Wolves defenders. Ridyard failed to convert but in increasingly energy-sapping conditions it was becoming tit-for-tat.
On thirty-two Fuifui Moimoi had a try ruled out for a double movement and two minutes later it was Kevin Penny who was disappointed after Stefan Ratchford's pass was adjudged to be forward.
Leigh hit the front for the first time on thirty-six after a great break down the left with a run and chip over the defence by Liam Kay which was collected by Greg McNally to score. Ridyard slipped the kick wide but his side were two points ahead at 14-12.
Just before half time there was a long stoppage following an injury to James Laithwaite which resulted in the Wolves player having his leg braced and being carried from the pitch. With the atmosphere slightly subdued from its earlier forever pitch the rest of the half was scoreless allowing Leigh to carry the advantage into the break.
Forty-two seconds into the second half the words of Tony Smith had the desired effect when Brad Dwyer broke down field, Ratchford jinked and jostled and slipped a tackle before a long ball to the right wing to put Kevin Penny over to score in the corner. O'Brien converted brilliantly from the touchline for 18-14 to the Wolves.
On forty-four Kevin Penny scored a spectacular try in the corner while almost hurdling the corner flag. Despite O'Brien missing the kick the whole complexion of the game had changed in a four minute spell of Wolves genius.
O'Brien heaped the pressure back on his side when he saw Richard Silverwood's yellow card for tackling Brierley without the ball. But despite being a man down it was the Wolves who increased their lead on fifty-five when George King grounded a Dwyer grubber and Ben Westwood took over kicking duties from the sin-binned O'Brien and added the two for 28-14. Leigh now had a mountain to climb.
Fifteen minutes from the end and Leigh threw themselves a lifeline with a grubber kick on the third tackle that was picked up and scored by Ryan Brierley. Ridyard kicked the extras to get his side within two tries of the Wolves.
Ten minutes from time Ben Currie put Warrington through when he grounded from ten metres out off a Ratchford pass. The O'Brien goal extended the lead to fourteen points at 34-20 leaving the visitors needing three converted tries.
Within a minute Leigh had one of them when Tom Armstrong crossed in the corner after Warrington had been penalised for interfering at the kick fielding. Ridyard couldn't convert.
Leigh's efforts to score got increasingly frantic but cool heads from their Super League opposition allowed then to negotiate the remaining minutes to seal the victory and leave Leigh to concentrate on the middle eights.
Leigh were the best side in the first half and worthy of their lead but it was a far more professional and accomplished Warrington in the second half and in the end they were worthy winners.
Wolves: Ratchford, Ormsby, Laithwaite, Atkins, Penny (2T), O'Brien (4G, YC), Myler, Hill, Clark, Sims (T), Westwood (G), Currie (2T), Harrison. Subs: Dwyer, Asostasi, Philbin, King G (T).
Centurions: McNally (T), Pownall, Worthington (T), Armstrong (T), Kay, Ridyard (2G), Brierley (2T), Wilkes, Beswick, Hock, Dixon, Goulden, Emmitt. Subs: Higson, Hopkins, Moimoi, Spencer.
Referee: Richard Silverwood
Attendance: 10,119
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