06 August 2023 , 17:09
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Leigh boss Adrian Lam admits he has a panic on entering Wembley week - but for all the right reasons.
Tries from Edwin Ipape and Tom Amone were enough to see off lacklustre Leeds as Leopards stayed joint-second in Super League. And it was perfect preparation for Saturday’s Challenge Cup final against Hull KR - their first trip to Wembley in more than half-a-century. Lam bravely fielded most of his big stars, such as John Asiata, Lachlan Lam and Edwin Ipape, opting against resting them.
But they call came through unscathed meaning his biggest decision will be who to leave out come the big day. Lam admitted: “It’s all I could think about all the way through - someone’s got to miss out now.
“I’m grateful we’re in this position. It’s always a massive concern in the game prior to a bigger game but we’re all OK, thankfully.
“We left Zak Hardaker and Josh Charnley out with minor strains but they’ll be fine for Wembley.
“And we wanted to respect the Super League competition and where we are. We didn’t want to give that up easily. We had a chat about keeping our momentum going and we’ve done that.”
Aussie second-row Kai O’Donnell made his return after a six-game ban while England centre Oliver Gildart debuted following his move from the NRL’s Dolphins but he’s ineligible for Wembley.
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Ninth-placed Leeds remain four points adrift of the play-offs with just six games to go. They badly lacked a cutting edge following Blake Austin’s surprise exit to Castleford on Thursday. It was a low-quality game with few attacking chances of note.
Leigh Leopards prop Robbie Mulhern takes on Leeds (PA)Papuan hooker Ipape powered over from close range in the 23rd minute but Jarrod O’Connor sniped over for Leeds 10 minutes later, Rhyse Martin converting. But Leeds lost prop Justin Sangare to a foot injury at the start of the second half before big prop Amone showed great footwork to get over. Ben Reynolds improved and, while Leeds were down to 12 men for Sam Lisone’s trip on Tom Briscoe, he also added a penalty.
Rhinos reckoned Matt Davis was lucky not to see yellow himself for a late hit on Aidan Sezer. And then O’Connor was denied a second try when video referee Liam Moore deemed he’d fumbled going for the line, overruling Marcus Griffiths’ on-field decision in the 71st minute.
Soon after, Gareth O’Brien confirmed Leigh’s 14th win of the season with a drop goal. Leeds boss Rohan Smith rued: “We were there or thereabouts. We got beaten in a couple of critical moments. We had three or four players severely under the weather going in but they didn’t hesitate and dug in. I was proud of our effort.”