Wakefield Trinity 18-14 Leigh Leopards: Daryl Powell's side hold on for scrappy Super League win as Leigh succumb to another defeat

Wakefield Trinity held their nerve for a scrappy 18-14 win over Leigh Leopards in round five of Super League at the DIY Kitchens Stadium.

There was not much separating the two sides at half-time, a converted Jazz Tevaga try plus Max Jowitt penalty claiming Wakefield’s eight points as Leigh hit back through an unconverted Gareth O’Brien effort to go in 8-4 down at the break.

Wakefield struck early in the second half through Jayden Myers and later on through Oliver Pratt, the Pratt try coming off the back of a sin bin for Jack Hughes as he prevented a tryscoring opportunity.

Leigh scored through Josh Charnley and Jacob Alick-Wiencke but the points came too late as they succumbed to another defeat.

The victory marks Wakefield’s third of the season while Leigh have won once in five games as their injuries pay. Indeed, head coach Adrian Lam said he entered the contest with his last remaining 18 fit players.

Wakefield hold nerve as Leigh show fight too late

Leigh Leopards said they came into the match with a simple game plan and it was clear from the opening two minutes Wakefield had thought the same, the arm wrestle ensuing as both sides seemed intent to focus on completing their sets.

Wakefield, who were the side on top, got their breakthrough in the 11th minute. After a set restart on the opposition line, Tyson Smoothy threw a delightful flat pass to Tevaga on a lovely line to go in under the sticks. Jowitt converted for an early 6-0 advantage.

Leigh thought they had hit back eight minutes later but Jack Hughes was held up over the line. That being said, the Leopards were looking the more dangerous of the two.

Wakefield thought they had their reward for standing firm against Leigh’s misfiring attack in the 28th minute when Jayden Myers stretched out in the corner. But, after a review, it was clear his foot was in touch before grounding the ball and so his effort was chalked off.

The home outfit were the next team to get points on the board as Jowitt sent over a conversion on the 30th minute as Jack Sinfield was hit high but their decision to go for two rather than to try and score a second showed the state of the game.

That did not deter Leigh, and they finally got over on the 33rd minute after a big shot from Liam Horne on Caius Faatili forced a knock-on. Then, with Wakefield’s defensive line failing, O’Brien was allowed to throw a dummy then ride the tackle to score. Adam Cook could not add the conversion and so they went in 8-4 down at the break.

Wakefield came back out after half-time and had the immediate impetus from the most unlikely of providers. Prop Caius Faatili sent up a speculative kick and as it was allowed to bounce, Myers picked it up to run in and increase their lead.

Both sides chanced their arm but there was only ‘no try’ decisions that came. The first was as Myers thought he was in again in the 59th minute but it was ruled out due to a knock-on from Cam Scott in the build-up.

Leigh then had a Frankie Halton effort removed for a similar infringement as Horne knocked on while challenging in the air.

Eventually though, Wakefield did get the try they had been searching for after a dramatic few minutes. It came after Hughes was sent to the sin bin for a pull that prevented a tryscoring opportunity.

From that, Wakefield shifted the ball out wide and Pratt used his strength to go over, Jowitt converting for an 18-4 lead.

Leigh did manage to hit back again through Charnley in the 69th minute but as Cook missed the conversion once again, they were running out of time at 18-8 down with 10 minutes left.

That meant that when Alick-Wiencke went over with just a minute on the clock, with that effort converted by Cook, it was too little too late as Wakefield held on for the 15 seconds remaining with Leigh four points short in their pursuit for a second win of the season.

Powell: We are at start of this season’s journey | Lam: We have to stay positive in difficult time

Wakefield Trinity Head Coach Daryl Powell:

“I thought there was a lot to like about us last week, but a lot less tonight

“Credit to Leigh they got after us and we didn’t handle that well.

“We didn’t play smart, it took a while to do that and we bombed a couple of chances, there’s loads of things to improve on tonight.

“Consistency of performance is a little bit off tonight, but we got to win games and that’s what important.

“It’s a journey a season and we’re still at the start of it and we want to get a little bit better and we certainly will from tonight.”

Leigh Leopards Head Coach Adrian Lam:

“The discipline hurt us, a couple of big moments in the game there.

“I guess I’m just looking for them being connected as a team.

“Whilst it was very clunky, it was the too many penalties that hurt us in the end.

“I think the penalty count was 7-1 at half time, I don’t know what it is across the board but it’s hurting us.

“We just have to stay positive through these difficult times

“We only had 18 players to pick from and 11 training this week, it’s not about getting too concerned it’s staying positive and being there for each other.

“It seems a long way at the moment but I’m positive.”

2026 Super League – key dates and what to look out for

Super League’s 30th birthday: Thu Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls, 8pm (Sky Sports)
Rivals Round: April 3-April 5
Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6:30 UK (Sky Sports)
Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season – including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+

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