Leeds Rhinos 16 Wigan Warriors 8
By David Magilton SHEFFIELD have shown how it's done and Leeds duly followed suit last night.
This was very much a repeat of Wembley two weeks ago where a good kick and chase and tenacious tackling undid the Warriors - and so it proved again.
Leeds went to the top of the table as the only unbeaten side after a breathtaking clash in front of a full house at Headingley.
Wigan's defence was magnificent as they soaked up at times endless Leeds pressure. But the Yorkshire giants' new coach Graham Murray has instilled a steel in his side and they maintained the pressure for the full 80 minutes to run out worthy winners .
Wigan assistant coach Andy Goodway admitted that saying: "Leeds gave us problems and we could not answer them. Leeds kicking game was superb.
"We lost our way with field position, gave the ball up too early in the tackle, while Leeds were more patient than we were."
The Warriors were under the cosh from the outset when they withstood a Leeds blitz for nearly 18 tackles before conceding a third minute try.
Skipper Iestyn Harris had three tacklers on him but somehow managed to slip the ball out for Brad Godden to dive over. Harris added a penalty and Tony Kemp a drop goal.
Wigan rarely threatened but their best chance came two minutes from the break when Andy Farrell put Danny Moore through but he was superbly tackled just short. All the visitors had to show was a Farrell penalty for holding down.
Within 90 seconds of the restart a terrific break from Simon Haughton saw him race 35 yards for a touchdown and with Farrell nosing Wigan in front with a penalty soon after Wigan finally seemed on the right road.
But the Rhinos came charging back and again had Wigan on the back foot. The Warriors'defence was stretched to the limit and finally gave way in the 64th minute when Harris fed Andy Hay on the angled run and he found the gap. Harris kicked the goal and a late penalty while Kemp added another drop goal.
Haughton took little consolation in his superb try saying: "It is always disappointing to lose at a place like this as it is somewhere I used to come as a kid.
"It is our first league loss and a big downer for us. Leeds had a good kicking game and really pinned us down. Our defence was good but it's disappointing that we kept them out for so long and then let them score. Something has to be done about it or we will come a cropper again. We have a lot to look at and a lot to build on. We didn't play to our true potential by any means."
WIGAN: Radlinski, Gilmour, Connolly, Moore, Robinson, Paul, Smith, Cowie, McCormack, Mestrov, Betts, Cassidy, Farrell. Subs: Haughton ( for Cassidy 23), Johnson (for Paul 33), Holgate (for Cowie 48), Paul (for Johnson 56), Cassidy (for Mestrov 60), Cowie (for Betts 72). Att: 18,000.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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