A week after the two met in a one-sides Super League XXX
encounter at the Leigh Sports Village, Wakefield Trinity and the Leigh Leopard
were again sent out head-to-head, but this time in the quarter finals of the
Betfred Challenge Cup.

The bookies weren’t expecting another walkover and had made Daryl
Powell’s Wakefield marginal favourites by handicapping them two points on the
coupon, Adrian Lam’s side expected to put up a much stronger fight than they
did last time out.

The sceptics might say that Leigh were happy to sacrifice
the league encounter for cup progress, but the home side were desperate to cement
their return to the topflight with a cup semi-final place and the change of
making it to Wembley.

A Mason Lino 20-40 with eight minutes on the clock marched
the home side downfield. Wakefield went close on the fourth play but after
three tackles on the Leigh line the visitors mopped up the ball and breathed a
sigh of relief.

Matty Russell went close on twelve, almost making it over in
the corner but great scramble defence once again thwarted Trinity. Wakefield
were taking the game to Leigh and had the upper hand.

A little against the run of play, Leigh took the lead on
twenty when a Keanan Brand kick to the corner found the Wakefield defence
wanting and understaffed as Lachlan Lam collected and grounded under the
sticks. Gareth O’Brien added the extras for 6-0.

As the half wore on it was Wakefield who were hanging on,
waiting for the relief of half time.

An attempted drop goal from O’Brien a minute from time was a
little embarrassing for the Leigh man and it bounced along the ground. Leigh
went into the sheds with the sides separated by a solitary converted Lam try.

A one-hundred metre opening set of the half from Wakefield
saw them registering their first try with Russell collecting a kick through and
burrowing under the Leigh defence to ground. Lino added the touchline
conversion to square the sides up at 6-6. The Powell half-time talk had paid
fast dividends.

Trinity hit the front on forty-nine Josh Rourke the man on
hand to take an inside pass from Olly Pratt after a forty-metre break from the
centre. This was a far simpler kick for Lino, under the sticks, and he added
the extras without issue. A brilliant start to the second half.

From the back of the scrum, following a Rourke dropped ball,
Tesi Niu shrugged off the Wakefield tacklers and barged over the line, O’Brien
was on target with the conversion and the sides were tied together again.

Liam Hood was held up on the line on sixty-four, Leigh again
breathing a sigh of relief. After thwarting the Wakefield attack Leigh went
downfield and were awarded a penalty fifteen from the Wakefield sticks after Lam
was taken out after the kick. O’Brien kicked the resulting penalty goal; Leigh
were back in the driving seat with thirteen minutes remaining.

A disaster in the Wakefield defence handed the game to
Leigh. Rourke ran through his own goal line and tried a pass to Russell who missed
the ball, Bailey Hodgson picking the loose ball and scoring a simple try. O’Brien
extended the lead to eight points, Trinity running out of time and unable to
recover from the two Rourke mistakes which cost the game.

If it was Lam’s plan to sacrifice the league points in order
to make cup progress, then it worked a treat despite a small scare at the start
of the second half. Wakefield’s purple patch to take the lead in the game just
after the interval was short lived and thanks to a nightmare couple of passages
of play from the home side’s full back, the Leopard took full advantage and
joined the Catalans Dragons in the hat for the semi-finals draw, a return to
Wembley, the scene of their 2023 glory.

Wakefield Trinity: Rourke (T), Russell M. (T), Scott, Pratt,
Johnstone, Lino (G 2/2), Russell O., McMeeken, Hood, Hamlin-Uele, Croft,
Vaughan, Pitts.  Subs: Rodwell, Atoni,
Cozza, Smith. 18^th Man: Hall.

Leigh Leopards: Armstrong, Hodgson (T), Niu (T), Hanley, Brand,
O’Brien (G 4/4), Lam (T), Trout, Ipape, Mulhern, O’Neill, Halton, Liu. Subs: Brogan,
Tuitavake, Davis, Hughes. 18^th Man: McNamara.

Half-Time: 0-6.

Full-Time: 12-20.

Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6 : HT: 4-6, 6-6, 10-6, 12-6, 12-10,
12-12, 12-14, 12-18, 12-20 :FT.

Lead Exchanges: Leigh – Square – Wakefield – Square - Leigh.

Referee: Jack Smith.