Leeds Rhinos 34

Warrington Wolves 26

WARRINGTON Wolves should breeze past their final three opponents on the evidence of Friday night's performance at Leeds.

They gave one of the frontrunners for the Super League title a torrid time on their own patch.

Some of Wolves' attacking play was a joy to behold and if they perform to the same standard against Huddersfield, Halifax and Wakefield then they will give themselves every chance of making the Super League play-offs for the first time.

And if Wolves do make the play-offs there will be no-one taking them lightly. They are a difficult side to break down and with the likes of Graham Appo, Nathan Wood and Brent Grose in their ranks they will always pose a threat with the ball in hand.

All three players shone against Leeds but it was Ben Westwood and Sid Domic who presented the Rhinos with the most problems.

Their clinical finishing and outstanding support play were key factors in Wolves twice recovering from a 10-point deficit.

Paul Noone, who was drafted into Wolves' starting line-up at the last minute due to Ian Sibbit breaking his thumb in the warm up, also emerged from the game with a lot of credit.

He did not miss a tackle throughout but some of his teammates were not so impressive.

Wolves are by no means the finished article and their defensive frailties stuck out like a sore thumb on Friday - no offence Ian!

They switched off at vital moments and allowed Leeds far too much room to manoeuvre.

Wolves were also guilty of letting the Rhinos off-load for fun and the resulting extra tackles eventually took their toll.

Warrington were bright and breezy early on and they took the lead on six minutes when Grose gave Keith Senior the slip before releasing Westwood for a 50 metres race to the line.

Appo failed to tag on the extras and then N. Wood made the unwise decision to go solo from 20m out when a simple pass to the left would have given Wolves their second score. As it was, concerted pressure enabled Leeds to hit back with a vengeance and they opened up a 14-4 lead.

Skipper Kevin Sinfield scored a try from the back of the scrum, a penalty goal and two conversions while Matt Diskin also crossed Wolves' whitewash after Paul Wood had missed a tackle on Danny McGuire.

But Wolves were still in contention at the halfway stage thanks to a converted try by Domic. He benefited from power play on the right wing with Appo and P. Wood playing crucial roles.

Leeds regained their 10-point advantage at the start of the second half when Matt Adamson burst through three tackles before sending McGuire racing over.

Wolves refused to be downhearted and they turned the game on its head with two quick-fire tries.

First N. Wood somehow off-loaded out of a gang tackle to put a try on a plate for Westwood and then Appo collected his own chip over the top before exchanging passes with Grose and scooting over.

Appo converted on both occasions to give Wolves a 22-20 advantage.

Leeds responded with a 64th minute try by Francis Cummins.

Kicking maestro Sinfield claimed the assist with a cut-out pass after N. Wood had been penalised for being off side and he then banged over a penalty which was awarded for an infringement at the play-the-ball by Mike Wainwright.

Wolves looked set to level the scores with only five minutes left to play when Appo flicked a pass out of the back of his hand to set up a superb N. Wood try.

But Appo missed a relatively simple conversion and Wolves' heads seemed to drop.

They knew that they had to score another try to have any chance of winning and Leeds moved in for the kill.

Sinfield and Rob Burrow dispossessed Domic in a crunching two-man tackle and Andrew Dunemann ghosted in between Jon Clarke and Jerome Guisset to wrap up the points in the dying seconds.

Match facts

Super League VIII Round 25, Friday, August 29, 2003

Leeds Rhinos 34

Warrington Wolves 26

SCORERS:

Rhinos: Tries: Sinfield (24 mins), Diskin (34), McGuire (47), Cummins (64), Dunemann (78). Goals: Sinfield 7 from 7 (2 pens).

Wolves: Tries: Westwood (6mins, 55), Domic (39), Appo (58), N. Wood (74). Goals: Appo 3 from 5.

SCORING RATE: Wolves first: 4-0, 4-6, 4-8, 4-14, 10-14, half-time; 10-20, 16-20, 22-20, 22-26, 22-28, 26-28, 26-34.

PENALTIES

Rhinos 5 Wolves 5

SCRUMS

Rhinos 7 Wolves 5

CONDITIONS: Cool and calm. Pitch: Fine.

TOP MEN (Points to be awarded throughout the season): Westwood 3pts, Domic 2pts, Noone 1pt.

MATCH RATING: 8/10

ATTENDANCE: 10,750

RHINOS: Gary Connolly; Richard Mathers, Chris McKenna, Keith Senior, Francis Cummins; Danny McGuire, Andrew Dunemann; Danny Ward, Matt Diskin, Matt Adamson, David Furner, Willie Poching, Kevin Sinfield. Subs used: Chris Feather, Rob Burrow, Barrie McDermott, Jamie Jones-Buchanan.

WOLVES: Daryl Cardiss; Ben Westwood, Brent Grose, Paul Noone, Dean Gaskell; Graham Appo, Nathan Wood; Nick Fozzard, Jon Clarke, Mark Hilton, Mike Wainwright, Paul Wood, Sid Domic. Subs used: Warren Stevens, Gary Hulse, Mark Gleeson, Jerome Guisset.

REFEREE: Richard Silverwood