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Wakefield Wildcats celebrate historic win over Leeds Rhinos
Wakefield Wildcats 28 Leeds Rhinos 18 WAKEFIELD Wildcats triumphed 28-18 over Leeds Rhinos to maintain their perfect start to the season and record their first ever Super League home win over Leeds.
Wakefield returned to the top of the league after a superb team performance in which they dominated the reigning champions for much of the game at the Hearwell Stadium.
The hosts flew out of the blocks and Tevita Leo-Latu and Glenn Morrison both went close before Shane Tronc's off-load and Ben Jeffries' break put Sean Gleeson in for the opening try on nine minutes.
Man of the match Danny Brough kicked-off his impressive outing with the conversion.
Both sides squandered good chances to score tries and stray passing and poor ball retention kept the game in the balance.
Leeds enjoyed a bright spell midway through the first half but Rob Burrow's dangerous break was ended by a superb tackle from Brough, who then stepped up to kick a penalty that put Wakefield 8-0 up on 25 minutes.
Leo-Latu pounced on a Leeds kick to race upfield and put the hosts in good field position and Jeffries got onto the end of Morrison's pass to go over for an unconverted try just after the half-hour.
Leeds showed their class six minutes before the break when good work from Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Jones-Buchanan put Danny McGuire under the posts and Sinfield added the extras.
However, the final points of the half went to Wakefield as Brough landed a good penalty to give John Kear's team a 14-6 lead.
Leeds looked for an immediate response at the start of the second half and Aaron Murphy's knock on allowed the visitors to camp inside the Wildcats' 20-metre line.
But McGuire's pass along the line was intercepted by Brough who raced the length of the pitch to touch-down and convert.
Sinfield was sin-binned on 52 minutes as Leeds became more desperate and Wakefield took advantage three minutes later when Brough's cross-field kick was claimed and grounded by Daryl Millard. The reliable Brough converted to put Wakefield in charge at 26-6.
The home crowd were back on tenterhooks within 10 minutes however as Scott Donald ran in two tries to put Leeds only eight points adrift.
But the Wildcats held firm and Brough's penalty seven minutes from time secured victory for the jubilant home fans.
Wildcats: Murphy, Morton, Gleeson, Millard, George, Jeffries, Brough, Tronc, Obst, Korkidas, Morrison, Demetriou, Leo-Latu. Subs: Newton, Ferguson, Moore, Henderson.
Rhinos: Webb, Donald, Watkins, Senior, Hall, McGuire, Burrow, Leuluai, Buderus, Peacock, Jones-Buchanan, Eastwood, Sinfield. Subs: Diskin, Kirke, Lauitiiti, Bailey.
Read Friday's Wakefield Express for the full match report, pictures and reaction from the Hearwell Stadium.
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Weather for Wakefield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
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