Leeds beat Warrington after Wigan's dramatic win over Huddersfield

Leeds co-captain Cameron Smith scored twice as the Betfred Super League’s third-placed side continued their revival under Brad Arthur by thumping beaten Challenge Cup finalists Warrington 36-12.

Smith came off the bench to claim the opening try in the 34th minute and struck again three minutes into the second half before half-back Brodie Croft added a third soon after.

Jake Connor’s fourth goal of the game made it 20-0 before Sam Burgess’ Wolves replied through Josh Thewlis, seven days after their 8-6 Wembley loss to Hull KR.

Yet Leeds scored again through prop Tom Holroyd and Connor, who claimed a 14-point haul, with Ben Currie notching a late second for the well-beaten visitors before Morgan Gannon added a sixth try for Leeds.

It was a memorable day for second-rower Kallum Watkins, who made his 400th career appearance and kicked a last-minute conversion as the in-form Rhinos claimed a fifth-straight league win and a seventh in their last eight games.

Leeds forced the early pressure with Lachie Miller a dangerous running threat from full-back and Connor pulling the strings at scrum-half, while the left boot of playmaker Marc Sneyd provided Warrington with a threat.

Leeds were generally dominant and Miller dived for the line inside the left channel but, after referee Chris Kendall deemed it as no-try, video referee Tom Grant confirmed his decision.

At the other end, Warrington prop Paul Vaughan stretched out an arm to ground he ball under the posts but again Kendall’s decision of a no-try was confirmed by the video referee.

The Wolves continued to pen Leeds back towards their own line but in the 27th minute, the Rhinos thought they had scored when Harry Newman took Croft’s pass and dived over inside the right channel.

Kendall awarded the try but the video referee ruled it out after spotting an obstruction in the build-up, but – in the 33rd minute – the opening try finally came from Smith.

After England captain George Williams was dispossessed in midfield, Leeds broke and their pressure told when Smith took a short pass and dived under the posts before Connor converted.

Two minutes before the break, Warrington’s Arron Lindop went down injured after landing awkwardly before being replaced.

On the stroke of half-time, Connor kicked a penalty to make it 8-0, while Smith grabbed his second in the 43rd minute when Miller fielded a high bomb superbly.

His short pass sent Smith over from close range and Connor converted before Croft showed impressive strength to force his way over from close range for Leeds’ third.

Connor again converted and, although Thewlis went through a gap inside the left channel for a try which Sneyd converted, the second half was largely one-way traffic.

The Rhinos ran amok as Holroyd charged through a gap to score in the 52nd minute and Connor converted before getting on the scoresheet himself after evading the Warrington defence.

The visitors scored a late consolation try through Currie off a scrum – with Sneyd converting – before rising star Gannon stretched out an arm to cross over in the closing stages.

Farrimond inspires Wigan to late win against Huddersfield

Jack Farrimond broke Huddersfield hearts with a last-gasp try to seal a 22-18 victory for Wigan in a dramatic finish to their Betfred Super League clash at the Flair Stadium in Dewsbury.

Forced to relocate from the John Smith’s Stadium due to a clash with a Stereophonics concert, the hosts had summoned their best display of the season and looked set to hold out for only their second win.

The hosts mostly outmuscled the defending champions and twice built an eight-point lead marshalled by the superb Zac Woolford as they revelled in the rare close-knit atmosphere.

Errors spilled into Wigan’s late play as they fought desperately to wrest the advantage, but they still summoned one last attack and, with time up on the stadium clock, Zach Eckersley switched a short pass inside for Farrimond to win the match.

There was little sign of the drama to come as Wigan, without Bevan French for a second straight game due to a minor knock, dominated the opening stages and broke the deadlock when Liam Marshall grasped a short pass from Jake Wardle and zeroed in at the corner.

Marshall’s try took him above Pat Richards and made him Wigan’s record try-scorer of the Super League era with 148 to his name.

But the Giants rolled with the punches and pulled level five minutes later when George Flanagan was fed by Tui Lolohea and shrugged off the attentions of Eckersley to pull his side level.

Flanagan converted his own try to put his side ahead and all of a sudden confidence coursed through the Huddersfield veins, orchestrated by scrum-half Adam Clune and a battering-ram performance by Joe Greenwood.

It was Greenwood who set up Huddersfield’s second later in the half, smashing a hole in the Wigan rearguard before feeding Woolford who in turn sent George King over, Flanagan’s second conversion giving Huddersfield a 12-4 half-time lead.

But having battled so hard to chisel their interval advantage, the hosts made the worst possible start to the second half to allow Wigan to reduce the deficit within two minutes of the restart.

Flanagan fumbled Harry Smith’s high kick in the windy conditions and Jacob Gagai failed to flap the ball dead, allowing Jai Field to nip in before Adam Keighran’s kick reduced the deficit to two.

Wigan piled on the pressure but Eckersley could not keep hold of Liam Farrell’s pass with the try line at his mercy, and the Giants roused themselves once more, re-establishing their eight-point lead when Greenwood barged over from close range on 55, Flanagan once again adding the extras.

Wigan coughed up plenty of errors as they chased down the deficit, but Farrimond gave them hope with his first try seven minutes from time, then popped up when it mattered again at the death, Marshall kicking the final conversion for good measure.