Super League Playoffs – Weekend Review
St Helens crush Leeds, whilst Wigan slay the Dragons.
Sep 22, 2008
‘St Helens 38 Leeds Rhinos 10’
On the day when club captain Paul Sculthorpe announced his retirement from the game, St Helens produced a stirring second half display which helped them beat Leeds in the Qualifying semi final at Knowsley Road on Friday night, and book their place in the Grand Final and send coach Daniel Anderson off in style.
Saints started the brighter of the two sides and were ahead inside 8 minutes thanks to Ade Gardner’s 27th try of the season. Francis Meli made the initial break, before a swift passing move sent Gardner over in the corner. Leeds leveled less than 10 minutes later when Danny McGuire was given the green light by Video Ref Ian Smith, but Matt Gidley restored the advantage when he powered over from 5 yards. Sean Long added the conversion as well as a penalty goal to give the home side a 12-4 half time lead.
If Daniel Anderson could bottle the words that he said to his players at half time, then he’d be hailed a genius. The league leaders were simply superb in the second 40 and ran in 5 tries to overwhelm the Rhinos side.
Leon Pryce started things off after he shrugged off four Leeds defenders on half way, before racing 35 yards and using his supporting team mates to great effect in order to send Francis Meli over in the opposite corner. Nick Fozzard, who is leaving the club at the end of the season, then injected himself into the game by making two bruising runs which led to a try for James Roby and effectively ended the match as a contest.
Saints added further scores through another Roby try and a brace for Jon Wilkin, whilst Gareth Ellis forced his way over for a consolation for the Rhinos.
On reaching the final and coaching his final game at Knowsley Road, Anderson said:
"I thought the way we played was brave tonight. You can go into your shell but we played with the style that has exemplified our season.............It was very satisfying."
‘Catalans Dragons 26 Wigan Warriors 50’
Wigan will appear in their second succesive Final Eliminator, after they overcame French side Catalans Dragons in a fiercely contested clash at the Stade Gilbert Brutus in Perpignan. Catalans dominated the early exchanges but couldn't find a way through a determined Wigan side, who will now meet Leeds at Headingley Carnegie next week.
Despite the dominance of the home side in the opening 20, it was the Warriors who led at half time after two first half Dimitri Pelo tries were sandwiched by tries from George Carmont, Trent Barrett and Richard Mathers which put them ahead 14-10 at the break.
Wigan started the second half the quicker of the sides, and Pat Richards had a try disallowed for offside but soon after he raced 90 yards to score the first try of the half. Tries from Olivier Elima and Justin Murphy leveled the scores at 20 all on the hour mark, but a tremendous final 20 minutes from Wigan saw Pat Richards and Trent Barrett score their second tries in quick succession before tries from Mark Calderwood and Gareth Hock won them the game.
A John Wilson try was brief consolation for the home side, before Calderwood grabbed his second and Wigan’s 9th try of the night to complete the rout.
Catalan boss Mick Potter beleives the opening 20 minutes from his side cost them the game after they failed to make their dominance pay:
"We were disappointed with our execution in the first half," he said
"We missed some opportunities. We hoped they weren't going to come back to haunt us but they did.
"You can't do that in semi-finals. The scoreboard was tight, and everything we tried we came up with the wrong option.
"As the pressure built, the scoreboard ran away from us. But the score is not a true reflection of the match."
Source: BBC Sport
