1998 Season Reports: LEIGH 20 WAKEFIELD 32

Centurions 20 - 32 Wakefield Trinity

Leigh dominated this game for long periods, giving table topping Wakefield a real fright. At the finish only two late tries separated the bottom side from the early season pacesetters.

A bright opening saw Leigh claim the first try when the prolific David Ingram scored his sixth of the season after an opportunist chip and chase. O'Loughlin, again pressed into kicking duty, failed with the extra points.
Twelve minutes into the game Wakefield hit back when John Wray pounced on a kick to the corner that bounced past home winger, Burgess.

The Centurions were dealt a sickening injury blow when promising winger Mark Burrows was carried off with concussion on 17 minutes. This affected Leigh's rhythmn as Trinity applied pressure.
Wakefield finally got a breakthrough on 23 minutes. Another kick to the corner was misjudged by the defence and Hughes dived in for a converted try and a 12-4 lead.

Leigh surged back into the game before halftime with a two-try salvo. Alert hooker Hudspith crossed in the corner following Murray's quick reaction to a dropped bomb. Sixty seconds later Trininity were breached again as Murray, Fairclough and Hudspith combined to send Bowker in for his first senior score. At 12-12 the game was evenly poised.

Trinity were first to score in the second period when impressive loose forward Whakaru crashed over on 54 minutes. O'Loughlin added a penalty for Leigh before a carbon copy move saw Whakaru claim his second score of the game. At 14-24, Leigh had it all to do again.

Leigh set about thier task with renewed enthusiasm, reducing the arrears to 4 points when Scott Hilton's grubber kick was hacked on and Andy Fairclough touched down for a converted score. The crowd could sense an upset was on the cards. Their support seemed to lift players like Anthony Murray, who threw himself around the park on attack and defence throughout the game.

Wakefield continued to hunt for the score. They were finally rewarded as Wray collected the ball from a scrum and raced 60 metres after Ingram collided with Donlan. Seven minutes from time Wray sealed victory, blasting past 2 defenders from 20- metres. Casey failed with the conversion but Trinity were home and dry.