Wakefield Trinity 4-30 Leigh Leopards: Play-off chasers survive Ben Reynolds red card to down Super League strugglers

Ben Reynolds was sent off for Leigh Leopards in the first half of the first game of Day 2 of Magic Weekend in Newcastle, but two tries from Lachlan Lam, plus Robbie Mulhern, Edwin Ipape and Josh Charnley crossing helped them pile more misery on winless Wakefield Trinity

Two tries from Lachlan Lam helped 12-player Leigh Leopards strengthen their Betfred Super League play-off ambitions with a 30-4 victory over struggling Wakefield Trinity in the opening game of Day 2 of Magic Weekend.

Scrum-half Lam and Robbie Mulhern helped the Leopards into a 10-0 lead at half-time at St James’ Park, but they were being forced to do things the hard way after Ben Reynolds was sent off for punching, with the incident swiftly followed by Tom Nisbet being sin-binned.

Trinity were unable to capitalise on that numerical advantage before the break and fell further behind in the 48th minute when Edwin Ipape was sent streaking clear to score, with Josh Charnley’s 16th Super League try this season and Lam’s second of the game securing their seventh win in a row.

The defeat ensured Wakefield, who grabbed a late consolation try through Max Jowitt, remain winless at the bottom of the table after 14 rounds of the regular season. But of greater immediate concern for them is the health of Jack Croft after he was taken off the field on a stretcher in the second half.

Story of the game

Wakefield, bottom of the Super League table and without a win in 2023 heading into this game, had been on something of a signing spree in a bid to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation and it was no surprise to see David Fifita named on the interchange bench after his midweek return to the club.

Leigh showed just why they had won their previous six matches in all competitions right from the start though and it needed some fine defence from Trinity to gang-tackle Zak Hardaker into touch and end a promising early attack from a scrum following a knock-on.

Nevertheless, the Leopards took the lead in the seventh minute thanks to the vision of former Sydney Roosters player Lam, who took the ball around 25 minutes out and spotted a gap to nip through and then out-pace the defence to finish on the left for an unconverted try.

Charnley was then denied adding to his tally for the season when the video referee deemed he had been held up over the line, but Leigh were soon in again on the quarter-hour mark as the front row combined, with hooker Ipape and Tom Amone shipping the ball on for fellow prop Mulhern to finish followed by Reynolds converting.

Trinity were unable to make the most of a Leopards error close to their own line following the restart, knocking on themselves soon after, but the play-off chasers found themselves down to 12 players in the 28th minute when stand-off Reynolds was dismissed for punching Fifita.

The Leopards then lost second row Nisbett to the sin bin for a dangerous contact on Jay Pitts, leaving them reduced to 11 players for 10 minutes.

Wakefield, however, could still not find a way through before half-time though and the closest they came was Tom Lineham being held up over the line followed by the winger knocking on as he dived for the corner moments later.

Indeed, it was Leigh who moved further ahead eight minutes into the second half when Ricky Leutele broke down the left wing and then passed back inside for the returning Nisbet to send Ipape racing away for another try.

Hardaker converted and then added a further two points from a penalty goal in front of the posts with 53 minutes played, but play was then halted to allow Croft to receive treatment before being taken from the field on a stretcher.

When play resumed, it was not long before the Leopards pushed 24 points clear as Lam and Leutele sent the ball wide to the left for winger Charnley to cross for another converted score on 61 minutes followed by Lam putting the seal on the win. Jowitt’s late try, meanwhile, provided scant consolation for Trinity.

What they said

Leigh Leopards head coach Adrian Lam

“We have had a lot of changeover with 14 new players coming in [during the off-season]. The players we brought in are not only great players, but good people and I think that has really helped to grow the team.

“They are very close, but I still think we have two or three levels to go. If we keep driving that the only way is up for us.”

Player of the match Lachlan Lam

“We talked about it at the start of the year, we said our goal is to just work hard each week and hopefully we can keep jumping the ladder as we do that. The sky is the limit for us.

“We are making progress up that ladder which is exciting for our team and that town. We are building something here.”

What’s next?

Wakefield face one of their West Yorkshire rivals next when they welcome Leeds Rhinos to Be Well Support Stadium on Sunday, June 11 (3pm). Leigh are back in action on Friday, June 9 when they host Hull FC.