A place at Old Trafford against last night’s controversial victors, Hull KR, awaited the winners of the Borough Derby as league leaders Wigan Warriors faced a resurgent Leigh Leopards in a crucial eighty minutes which could have ended in ‘business as usual’ or herald the dawn of a new order at the top of the game.
Wigan were clear favourites with the bookies after sweeping aside the challenge of Hull KR for the minor premiership but despite a ten-point handicap on the coupon they took the field under few illusions that the Leigh side, under their former coach Adrian Lam, would be massive in opposition.
The Brick was a sea of red and white as the crowd reached fever pitch ahead of kick off.
After a scrappy start to the game and an error from Matt Moylan under the kick led to the first score of the game, Wigan moving the ball from right to left with a looping Jai Field pass finding Liam Marshall to score in the left corner. Adam Keighran was wide with his conversion attempt, the Warriors with a four-point advantage.
Leigh were being forced into long defensive stints and on eighteen Sam Walters stretched for the line to ground after shrugging off two attempted tackles. Keighran was on target this time, the Leopards defending for their lives but still ten points adrift against a Warriors side who had assumed full control.
Just when it looked like Leigh were certain to score after a great period of pressure, Abbas Miski picked their pockets with an interception which saw him sprint from his own ten to the Leigh twenty. A fast play the ball saw Leigh penalised for offside and Keighran kicked the goal to extend the lead to two converted tries.
A Wigan knock-on from the kick off gifted Leigh the ball twenty from the Wigan line on the half hour but an unimaginative set was defended well by the Warriors.
Keighran was tackled on the Leigh line on thirty-seven and on the next play the ball was quickly moved to the left for Marshall to get his second of the game, off a Field miss-out pass, in the corner. Keighran hit the mark with the conversion for a three-score lead at the break.
It took under two minutes of the second half for Wigan to further extend the lead, Walters strolling through a big gap in the Leigh defence to score from ten metres out. Keighran kicked his fourth goal from five attempts as the Wigan fans started to book their Old Trafford tickets.
A fifth Keighran goal on fifty-four minutes made it 26-0, Leigh fans now resigned to their exit from the 2024 competition.
On the hour a brilliant piece of play from Bevan French added a fifth try of the game for the home side and he kicked through the line, collected his own kick and dived in for a try created from nothing. Keighran kicked the conversion for 32-0.
An incredible run from Field, rounding the Leigh right wing to brush off the attempted tackles and round behind the uprights to make the Keighran conversion a formality for a final scoreline of 38-0 as Leigh were totally humiliated.
Tyler Dupree was sin-binned in the dying seconds for kicking the ball away and prevening a quick restart, the last action of note in the game.
This was a night that Leigh and their supporters will want to forget. A night where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, as they capitulated to their nearest neighbours in the most crucial game of the season. There is no denying that the Leopards did brilliantly to get this far in the competition after an awful start to the season, but tonight they were given a masterclass in rugby league by the side who will be strong favourites to retain their crown next weekend in Manchester. Wigan make it to the Grand Final again for what could be a classic against their main rivals in 2024, Hull KR.
Wigan Warriors: Field (T), Miski, Keighran (7/8 G), Wardle, Marshall (2T), French (T), Smith, Havard, Leeming, Thompson, Nsemba, Walters (2T), Ellis. Subs: Byrne, Mago, Dupree (SB on 79), Forber. 18thMan: Eckersley.
Leigh Leopards: Moylan, Hardaker, Leutele, Hanley, McIntosh, O’Brien, Lam, Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, Holmes, Hughes, Asiata. Subs: Trout, Pene, Dwyer, Davis. 18th Man: Brand.
Half-Time: 18-0.
Full-Time: 38-0.
Score Progression: 4-0, 8-0, 10-0, 12-0, 16-0, 18-0 : HT: 22-0, 24-0, 26-0, 30-0, 32-0 36-0, 38-0, (SB) :FT.
Lead Exchanges: Wigan.
Referee: Chris Kendall.
