When Leigh Leopards and the Leeds Rhinos met in Round Sixteen it was the Rhinos who triumphed in a hight scoring encounter as they moved into third spot with a 48-30 home win.

In the first game of round twenty-one the venue was the Leigh Sports Village where current third placed Leigh were looking to go second ahead of the Wigan Warriors, while a win for Leeds would lift them one place above St Helens and within a league point of their opponents.

Leigh were slight favourites with the bookies, being handicapped by two points on the coupon, but it was too close to call for most pundits and experts.

Brodie Croft looked to have grounded a Jake Connor grubber kick on four minutes but despite the referee awarding a try the video referee spotted separation in the act of grounding and chalked the try off.

On ten it was the Leopards who opened the scoring with Umyla Hanley taking a Lachlan Lam pass and stepping out of a tackle to dive over in the right corner for a one-handed try.  Gareth O’Brien pulled his conversion attempt across the face of the uprights.

An attempted 40-20 from Lam didn’t make touch, but a great chase saw Leeds debutant Chris Hankinson forced into touch with the ball. On the fourth play a deflected pass went into the hands of Keanan Brand who outstripped the Leeds defence to score in the same corner as the Hanley try. O’Brien was again wide of the uprights, the home side leading 8-0.

A brilliant Jake Connor 40-20 0n twenty-two gave the Rhinos some respite. On the last tackle the Rhinos were awarded a penalty on the Leigh line for a shepherd and on the first tackle Lachlan Miller ran the angle and slid over to ground the ball for the opening Leeds Try. Connor was wide with the conversion, the Rhinos still four adrift.

Leeds got a set restart deep in the Leigh half on thirty-four. On the first tackle Sam Lisone took a pass two from the line and span out of the tackle to ground by the right upright. Connor found the target this time and the Rhinos hit the front with three minutes of the half remaining.

A tremendous first half, there was nothing in it with forty minutes to go.

A high tackle from Lam in Leeds opening six of the second half put Leeds on the front foot, and on the last tackle a floated kick from Connor was collected by Connor and offloaded to James Bentley for a walk-in try from a couple of metres out. Connor added the extras, the Rhinos with sixteen unanswered points.

Back-to-back set restarts for Leigh on fifty ended with Brand getting his second in the right corner thanks to the Leopards exploiting the overlap down the right side, off a Lam pass, as they went in from ten metres out. O’Brien found the mark, the difference back down to two points.

Tesi Niu was held up over the Leeds line on the last Leigh tackle, the Rhinos defence just keeping the lead.

On sixty-one it was Lam’s turn to kick a delightful 40-20 as Leigh broke from their own line. On the fourth tackle Hodgson ripped through the Leeds line and lunged for the line from ten out but after the decision was sent to the video referee it was ruled out for an obstruction in the build-up.

As the game entered the last ten minutes it was still anyone’s.

Miller had the ball striped in the tackle on half-way on seventy-four but two plays later Leigh gifted the ball back to Leeds after a Josh Charnley fumble.

Four minutes remained on the clock when Miller broke the Leigh line and showed the chasers a clean pair of heels before finding Brodie Croft on his shoulder to cross under the sticks. Connor added the conversion, and the Rhinos were 22-14 ahead, the points in the back after a real battle.

It was an epic battle between sides both looking for a top two finish and a trip to Old Trafford come October. The Rhinos have done the double over Leigh and lifted themselves into fourth spot, a point behind Leigh in third. The loss will prove to be fuel for the Leopards as they look towards their run to the end of the season play-offs, but for tonight the Rhinos are the ones celebrating and taking the points back over the Pennines.

Leigh Leopards: Hodgson, Brand (2T), Niu, Hanley (T), Charnley, O’Brien (G 1/3), Lam, Ofahengaue, Ipape, Trout, Hughes Halton, Liu.  Subs: Mulhern, O’Neill, Davis, McNamara. 18^th Man:  Hodgson.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller (T), Hall, Newman, Handley, Hankinson, Connor (G 3/4), Croft (T), Palasia, O’Connor, Jenkins, McDonnell, Gannon, Watkins. Subs: Bentley (T), Lisone (T), Cassell, Ackers. 18^th Man: Sinfield.

Half-Time: 8-10.

Full-Time: 14-22.

Score Progression: 4-0, 8-0, 8-4, 8-8, 8-10 : HT: 8-14, 8-16, 12-16, 14-16, 14-20, 14-22 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: Leigh – Square - Leeds.

Referee: Jack Smith.