RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesBetfred Super League
Wakefield (16) 22
Tries: Vagana, Hamlin-Uele, Myers, Sinfield Goals: Sinfield 3
Leeds (6) 24
Tries: Croft, McDonnell, Smith, Hankinson Goals: Connor 4
Leeds Rhinos edged a thrilling top-of-the-table clash against Wakefield Trinity with late drama to go four points clear in Super League.
A sell-out crowd at DIY Kitchens Stadium were royally entertained as the top two served up a match worthy of a Grand Final, but it was the Rhinos fans who were celebrating at the death.
Despite trailing for all but three minutes of the contest, Leeds held their nerve to land a sucker punch with two moments of skill from the boot of Jake Connor to snatch victory.
With 77 minutes on the clock, Connor's grubber-kick was pounced on by Chris Hankinson to level the scores at 22-22. Connor then held his nerve to kick the extras from five yards inside the touchline as Leeds claimed a memorable success and remain on course to win the League Leaders' Shield.
This was a match in which Leeds showed grit, discipline and character to hold on to Wakefield's tail as the hosts withstood early pressure before stretching out into a 16-0 lead with three tries all converted by Jack Sinfield.
They came from Isaiah Vagana after a clever kick from Sinfield, a bullocking run from Caius Faatili, who broke two tackles and offloaded to Caleb Hamlin-Uele, while Jayden Myers went over in the corner as Wakefield delivered a commanding yet surprising advantage.
But Leeds have shown they rarely lie down so far this season and after Brodie Croft's 25th Super League try of the campaign gave them hope, a stunning second-half comeback, in which Cam Smith was irresistible off the bench, helped them grab the win late on.
The second half began with Wakefield extending their advantage through Sinfield, who wrestled the ball over the line and then added the extras in an impressive overall display.
But in keeping with plenty of his team-mates, they faded as Leeds surged and after Cam Scott and Hamlin-Uele had rescued Wakefield with brilliant last-ditch tackles to deny two tries, the dam burst.
James McDonnell bullied his way through the home defence to make it 22-10 with Connor's boot adding another two to put them within 10 points of Wakefield.
The excellent Smith - who will join Wakefield next season - was again aided by Connor as he powered through three minutes later as Leeds closed the gap to four points.
With the comeback definitely on, Wakefield were creaking under huge pressure, but to their credit they held on to their advantage until three minutes from time.
Connor's kick to set up Hankinson out wide pulled the scores level, but last year's Man of Steel is looking as shiny as ever and he produced a nerveless kick from the left flank to seal a remarkable turnaround.
Victory delivered a major step towards a top-two finish for Leeds, who are four points clear with five games remaining in the regular season and have a points difference of over 200 on Wakefield and Wigan Warriors, in second and third respectively.
'It was exactly the game that we needed' - reaction
Wakefield head coach Daryl Powell told BBC Radio Leeds:
"I am obviously disappointed. We had an excellent first half and I didn't think Leeds deserved that at the end but they got it.
"After we scored that try in the second half we just made too many errors. We gave penalties away and yardage. There are some key lessons in big games [to take away]. But it took until the last three minutes to reel us in and while you could see it coming I still felt we had a fair bit of fight about us.
"If we improve on that we can be a threat at the back end of the season.
"The clarity of thought under pressure was not there, but play like we did in the first half, we will take a little bit of dealing with. They have a lot of attacking threats and we dealt with them."
Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur told BBC Radio Leeds:
"It was an incredibly tough, gritty and [we showed] plenty of character in the second half. It was not our best performance by any means but it was probably exactly the game, the 80-minute game, that we needed.
"We have had everything pretty much our way for a long time and that was the first time in a long while we have been properly tested. We had to fight and get put under pressure and we had to get our composure back.
"We got kicked down, punched to the ground, and we had to get back up on our feet and go again and we did that on several occasions.
"They are a really good side, they threw everything at us. It is nice to come out on the right side but we still have a fair bit of work to do. Our young blokes stood up well.
"There might have been some questions at half-time - are these blokes tough enough? We showed that we were."
Wakefield: Rourke; Myers, Scott, Hall, Johnstone; Trueman, Sinfield; Lolesio, Smoothy, Rodwell, McMeeken, Vagana, Tevaga
Interchanges: Pitts, Hamlin-Uele, Faatili, Smith.
Leeds: Miller; Edgell, Handley, Bird, Newman; Croft, Connor; Oledzki, O'Connor, Jenkins, Hankinson, McDonnell, Watkins.
Interchanges: Smith, Lloyd, Cassell, Holroyd.
Referee: Liam Moore.
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