Leigh Leopards are one win away from a first appearance in the Super League Grand Final after stunning Salford Red Devils to advance to next weekend’s semi-finals.
The Red Devils have only lost to one side, reigning champions Wigan Warriors, at home all season long, and a club-record crowd were here for a thrilling opening tie in this year’s playoffs. However, the Leopards emerged victorious courtesy of a magnificent second-half performance.
Leigh were as low as ninth in the table in July, but their 11th win in 13 games means they are now just one victory away from Old Trafford. They will face either Wigan Warriors or Hull KR next weekend, with their opponents to be determined by Saturday’s other eliminator between Warrington and St Helens.
The intensity from both sides inside the opening quarter was certainly evident. Defensive prowess was the order of the day in an attritional opening 20 minutes, with neither side able to create a clear-cut opportunity.
In fact, the most noteworthy moments came in defence, with a thunderous hit from Leigh’s Edwin Ipape to dislodge the ball from Joe Mellor’s grasp handing the Leopards a chance. However, they couldn’t make the most of their early field position and let the Red Devils off the hook, with one or two key errors in prime attacking positions.
And as the half-hour mark approached, Salford began to settle into a rhythm, led by the boot of their scrum-half, Marc Sneyd. It was Sneyd’s kick that caused mayhem among the Leigh defence and while Jayden Nikorima’s try was ultimately ruled out, a foul in the build-up on a Salford attacker afforded Sneyd the simplest of opportunities to open the scoring with the boot.
It was only a penalty to make it 2-0 but it felt like a big moment in terms of the momentum shifting Salford’s way. With half-time looming, the Red Devils began to assert their authority, forcing Darnell McIntosh back over his own line to forge a wonderful attacking position.
At the other end, some instinctive last-ditch play from Leigh almost led to a frantic try in the final seconds of the half, but Salford cleared their lines and at the break, only Sneyd’s penalty separated the sides.
Leigh returned from the interval with a surge of energy and fresh momentum and while they couldn’t immediately create an opening to score their first points of the night, an error from Nene Macdonald near his own line proved a telling moment. From there, the Leopards finally put together a slick attacking play, with Matt Moylan and Ricky Leutele combining to send Josh Charnley over for his 248th Super League try, moving him second on the all-time list. Moylan skewed the conversion wide, but for the first time on the night, Leigh were ahead.
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And they extended that lead in devastating fashion on the hour. The outstanding Ipape broke from deep before an outrageous looping pass found Gareth O’Brien, who touched down under the sticks to give Moylan an easy chance to make it 10-2. For the first time on the night, there was daylight between the teams.
There was then a lengthy stoppage to treat Charnley after he collided awkwardly with Ryan Brierley, with the winger leaving the field on a stretcher. But it did not deter Leigh, and within a minute of play restarting, they went even further ahead.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Ipape who was again at the heart of it. This time, the hooker scored the decisive try as he forced his way over the line from close range. The conversion from Moylan would have opened up a three-score lead and surely put the game beyond doubt, but his kick went wide.
Salford piled on the pressure to try set up a grandstand finale and Sneyd’s clever kick for Ethan Ryan allowed the winger to cross in the corner – but Sneyd missed the decisive goal to leave the gap at eight points with two minutes to go. From there, Leigh held out for a historic victory.
