04 June 2023 , 14:21
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Proud boss Adrian Lam labelled Leigh's "very special moment" after seeing his side reduced to 11 men and still prove too strong for woeful Wakefield at Magic Weekend.
Stand-off Ben Reynolds was red carded for a feeble punch on Trinity’s David Fifita in the 26th minute. Wakefield cult-hero Fifita was making his ‘second’ debut after coming out of retirement to try and aid their fight against relegation. After the ‘Big Bopper’ came off the bench with his side 10-0 down, he was soon riled up by former team-mate Reynolds who aimed a cheap shot at him on the ground.
Aussie Fifita, 33, got up and reacted, prompting a melee in which Reynolds threw the weakest of flappy punches - but still promptly got his marching orders. Just two minutes later, Leigh were down to 11 men after Tom Nisbett was yellow-carded for a hip-drop tackle on Jay Pitts. But winless Wakefield - who have now lost all 15 games this term - still couldn’t score.
Tom Lineham was held up by Lachlan Lam and Josh Charnley before getting over the line - only to inexplicably lose the ball. And they were left arguing between themselves as scrum-half Mason Lino started berating his team-mates. Things got so bad that Lino even sent Jordy Crowther for an HIA after the scrum-half’s kick hit his team-mate in the head.
He managed to return but to add to Trinity’s woe centre Jack Croft - in only his second game since rejoining the club - was stretchered off after lengthy on-field treatment in the second half. Leigh have now won seven games on the bounce and are up to joint-third in Super League. They barely had to move through the gears against shattered opponents who are surely destined for the drop six points adrift.
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Lam said: "You can plan all week and prepare a gameplan but when you’re down to 12 men it completely changes that. It was a really special moment for us as a club when we defended our line with 11 men. The way we scrambled for each other was unbelievable. I’m really proud. I got in to talk to them at half-time and they were all gassed trying to get air. I said I wouldn’t say much. That’s how we’ve improved as a team: making sure we turn up for each other and have that trust in each other. But there’s more to come.”
In two-try Lachlan Lam, his son who has won Betfred Super League player of the year and is close to signing a new deal for 2024, they had the sort of playmaker Trinity have been crying out for all year. He scooted through for the opener after just seven minutes following a brilliant pass from John Asiata and Robbie Mulhern soon added a second, Reynolds improving.
Referee Liam Moore shows Leigh Leopards' Ben Reynolds the red card (Richard Sellers/PA Wire) (Getty Images)Lam weaved and jigged to get Ricky Leutele free in the 47th minute, Nisbett providing the link for Edwin Ipape to get Leigh’s third try. Zak Hardaker converted and - after slotting a penalty - did so again when Josh Charnley grabbed his 17th try of the year all too easily. Lam stepped through some shambolic defence for his second of the afternoon before Max Jowitt did finally get over for Mark Applegarth’s side in the 72nd minute.
Applegarth bemoaned: “It sums up the story of our year so far. Anyone watching as neutral would probably think it was us down to 12 for an hour the way we played. We were really erratic in the first half. We spoke about composure and eventually they’d wilt - but we went out and did the exact opposite.
"We've just had a chat about making sure we do our own jobs. At the moment we’re not playing as a team. We’re just going as a bunch of individuals. You have to kind of bluff your way out of it after losing 13 or 14 games. We need to fix it up sharpish as we are running out of time."