Rugby story by Vinnie Mitchell, Sat, 18 Feb 2006 20:44:00 GMT


Leeds scripted an amazing comeback as they overcame a 16-0 half time score line to beat Wigan Warriors 16-24. The match was heavily loaded in Wigan's favor at half time, but Leeds showed splendid spirit to pull of an unlikely win.

Wigan ran away to a big lead after tries from Joel Tomkins, Wayne Godwin and Chris Ashton. Earlier Keith Senior and Ali Lauitiiti had wasted good chances to open the scoring. But the relaxed Wigan defense was caught out by Shane Millard and Danny McGuire and Leeds began to hope of salvaging something out of the game.

However Wigan held on before Rob Burrow and Kevin Sinfield scored tries in the frantic last five minutes to register an amazing win. The match seemed to come alive in the second half as Wigan battled to maintain their lead, while Leeds fought back in the game. However, the real action came only after 74 minutes when Sinfield got in a late try.

Wigan coach Ian Millward acknowledged that the match was a good advertisement for rugby, "It was a great game of rugby, both teams were outstanding. I'd have liked us to have a better kicking game in the second half but I couldn't be more proud of them," he said. "It was a really good team effort. A couple of errors cost us - but it was a great learning curve. If we play like that every week I'll be a happy coach."

Leeds coach Tony Smith praised his team for their spirited performance, "It was without doubt the most character shown by any team I've coached. It was very charismatic of the boys. We had to do it the hard way. But they showed a lot of spirit, and I'm really proud of them," he said.

Match Details
Referee: R Silverwood (Dewsbury)

Wigan: Ashton, Calderwood, Richards, Vaealiki, Dallas, O'Loughlin, Moran, Logan, Higham, Paleaaesina, Hargreaves, Tickle, Hansen.
Substitutes: Brown, Seu Seu, Godwin, Tomkins.

Leeds: Mathers, Donald, Walker, Senior, Smith, McGuire, Burrow, Bailey, Diskin, Peacock, Lauitiiti, Ellis, Sinfield.
Substitutes: Scruton, Poching, Jones-Buchanan, Millard.

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