Leigh 22-8 Warrington: Wolves still without a win

Match Stats

Leigh tries: Hock (7, 67), Crooks (16), Higson (62)
Penalties/conversions:  Reynolds (7, 37, 74) 

Warrington tries: Lineham (70)
Penalties/conversions: Gidley (40), Livett (70) 

Match Report

Leigh claimed their biggest scalp yet on their return to Super League as they piled on the misery for bottom club Warrington.

Former England forward Gareth Hock grabbed two tries as the Centurions followed up their victories over St Helens and Huddersfield with an impressive 22-8 defeat of the Wolves to leave last year's league leaders still looking for their first win of the season.

Leigh never looked back after racing into a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes and they were 20-2 up before conceding their first try in two matches as they cantered to a first win over Warrington since 1988.

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It means that, just six matches into the season, the Centurions have already won more than they managed throughout the entire previous season in Super League in 2005 as they climbed into the top four.

Despite the appearance of skipper Chris Hill for his first game since England's defeat by Australia in November, Warrington were unrecognisable from the team that beat Brisbane Broncos so impressively in the World Club Series and pressure is now sure to mount on long-serving coach Tony Smith.

Much interest centred on the experiment of Warrington playmaker Kurt Gidley making history by wearing a playercam and, whether or not the Australian was distracted by the extra apparatus strapped to his chest, he did not have the best of games.

The camera was removed at half-time due to "technical issues" but the fortunes of both Gidley, who was switched from full-back to scrum-half alongside Kevin Brown, and his team failed to improve as the Centurions continued to play them off the park.

Leigh were boosted by the return of Australian second rower Glenn Stewart and they made a blazing start that appeared to take their visitors by surprise.

Hock led the Centurions' onslaught and it was from one of his barnstorming runs that he opened the scoring with the game's first try in the sixth minute.

Ben Reynolds added the goal to make it 6-0 and Leigh added a second try after 15 minutes when Gidley lost the ball in a thunderous tackle from Harrison Hansen that tested the toughness of the camera and, from the resultant free-play, centre Ben Crooks hacked the ball forward and re-gathered to touch down.

The Wolves could do little right with the ball and their luck was out in the 22nd minute when second rower Jack Hughes had a try disallowed by video referee Robert Hicks, who ruled an offside in the build-up.

Reynolds increased the lead to 12-0 with a penalty three minutes before the break but Gidley cancelled that out with a kick in the last act of the first half following a punch by Leigh forward Atelea Vea.

Leigh made it difficult for themselves when Stewart was sin-binned six minutes into the second half for a high tackle that forced Brown out of the rest of the match but Warrington were so out of sorts that they could not take advantage of the extra man.

Hooker Daryl Clark, Warrington's best player, got over the line after 49 minutes but lost control of the ball as he attempted to touch it down, and the visitors were also reduced to 12 men in the 55th minute when winger Tom Lineham was punished for using his elbow on winger Adam Higson.

The home side made use of the extra man to work Higson over for a third try and man of the match Hock powered his way over for his second before Lineham grabbed a consolation on his return to the field.

Match Reaction

Leigh coach Neil Jukes on veteran forward Gareth Hock potentially earning an England recall: "Why not? He carried the ball as strong as anybody else. There were current internationals out there and he was head and shoulders above a lot of them.

"Gaz has got a bit of a tag about him but he's a loveable rogue and his discipline has been very good. Off the field he is brilliant. He is one of the first in and he works really hard. I went with him to Red Hall (for a disciplinary hearing) and he got a fine and no ban and I thought it was really important he played for us this week.

"He had an unbelievable pre-season and I asked him to lead from the front."

On his side's start to the season: "It was a real tough opening six games and to get 50 per cent of them as wins is a real credit to the boys," Jukes said. "We're finding our feet, we're getting battle hardened.

"It's a cauldron here. We're starting games well but we're also finishing them strong so we're getting some consistency. Our defence was outstanding. Warrington are a class side and we did a real good job to put them under pressure,

"It never looked in doubt. I was disappointed with the try we conceded at the end but I can't complain too much."

Warrington head coach Tony Smith on defeat: "They out-enthused us. I thought both teams made a reasonable amount of errors in the first half and we gave away too many penalties.

"They came up with a close-to-the-line try, which we class as pretty soft, we need to be stopping those. And we had a disjointed attack, it just wasn't flowing and certainly was not how we trained.

"There was an amount of self-inflicted pain again. My players are trying hard but just coming up with wrong options and it's hurting us. Once we start making better decisions, we will come out the other side and get on a roll.

"We will re-group. We'll get in tomorrow into some hard work and fix it up. We'll have Stef Ratchford back next week but we've got to get some the people who are already out there back in their best form."