Wigan demolish Leigh in blowout victory
Wigan maintained their winning start to the new Betfred Super League season with a ruthless 54-0 derby demolition of Leigh.The Warriors did their talking on the field in emphatic fashion after Leigh chairman Derek Beaumont reignited last season's ticketing row with an incendiary statement shortly before kick-off at the Brick Community Stadium.
Tries in quick succession from Adam Keighran, Bevan French, Jai Field and Harry Smith effectively put the result beyond doubt in the first half.
Field, Zach Eckersley, Junior Nsemba, Smith and Tom Forber added further tries after the break, while Keighran ended the one-sided contest with nine goals from as many attempts.
Leigh coach Adrian Lam, who took charge in 2022, said: "That's probably our worst performance of my time as coach at the club.
"I just want to go home, wake up and start next week as soon as possible, really. We were very poor and they were very, very good. That's the bottom line.
"It was just a nightmare, really, the way it unfolded tonight."
Leigh brought what initially seemed a vocal following although, as Beaumont confirmed, the club had returned 3,550 of their allocated 5,000 tickets.In a strongly-worded note published just 40 minutes before the game, Beaumont cited unresolved matters relating to October's play-off semi-final for the low take-up.Those Leigh fans that were present were quickly subdued as Wigan clinically shifted focus to the field by racing into a 24-0 lead with four tries in the opening half hour.
Keighran claimed the first on the right from a French pass after Liam Marshall had been stopped short on the opposite side moments earlier.Marshall thought he had claimed another soon after only to be pulled back for a forward pass, but Leigh's relief proved short-lived.
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Adam Keighran converts Junior Nsemba’s try for Wigan (Picture by Bruce Rollinson/SWpix.com)
French barged through two tackles to touch down and Field then crashed over from close range after Smith's kick was knocked back by Nsemba.Handling errors hampered Leigh's attempts to break out of their own half and the procession continued as Field weaved through the defence and put Smith over under the posts.
Half-time brought Leigh some respite but they lost Matt Davis to injury within moments of the restart and Field piled on the misery with a fifth Wigan try after good work by Patrick Mago and Smith.Leigh contributed to their own downfall as a penalty for a heavy shot on Luke Thompson allowed Wigan to march downfield and create an opening for Eckersley in the corner.Nsemba got on the scoresheet from a clever kick by Smith, who added another himself after a quick break.
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Nsemba celebrates scoring a try against Leigh with Jai Field
Forber took the score past the half-century when he burrowed over under the posts in the closing minutes."I'm not going to point the finger. It's round three," Lam added. "But it's clear that we've got a lot of hard work to do. I'm going to give them an opportunity to respond and hold all of them accountable. It's just not one or two."They haven't played their best rugby and there was a lot of softness about us."Rugby League in Las Vegas: Sat Feb 28: Hull KR vs Leeds Rhinos, 11pm (Sky Sports)Super League's 30th birthday: Thu Mar 26: Castleford Tigers vs Bradford Bulls, 8pm (Sky Sports)Rivals Round: April 3-5Super League in Paris: Sat Jun 6: Catalans Dragons vs Wigan Warriors (Paris), 6.30pm (Sky Sports)Magic Weekend: July 4-5Rivals Round reversed: July 23-26Elimination Play-offs: September 19-20Play-off semi-finals: September 26-27Grand Final: October 3, Old Trafford.Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining five matches each week shown on Sky Sports+
