Reserves, Sutton Park, Saturday 13 July 2024 (noon)
Leigh Leopards 26-10 Huddersfield Giants
Leopards earned their fourth win of the season with an inspired second half comeback at Sutton Park led by skipper Craig Fairhurst.
The experienced fullback has led from the front throughout the Reserves’ inaugural year and he was again in sparkling form as the Leopards turned the tables after going in 10-0 down at the interval.
Fairhurst joined the attacking line superbly and finished off the Leopards’ revival with their fourth and final try of the afternoon as well as kicking five goals from as many attempts.
It looked like a different story in the first half as a well drilled and confident Giants side took control after a scrappy opening.
Baily Tait broke the deadlock with the opening try down the left channel and winger Beau Morrison, son of former Bradford Bulls favourite Glenn, finished a flowing move down the right.
Leopards had only shown their attacking flair fitfully in that first half but turned things around sparked by Alfie Whittle’s try in the corner and Fairhurst’s conversion soon after the re-start.
Tane Kane Bentley, again a powerhouse in the pack, surged under the posts after clever approach work by Ben Tyrer and Fairhurst’s goal gave his side the lead for the first time.
Demaine Bedward, a regular in the Leopards side this year on loan from Barrow Raiders, is growing with the experience. He put the seal on another impressive show with a close range converted try on the hour.
Fairhurst extended Leopards’ lead with a penalty goal and finished off a flowing move from the scrum to complete the turnaround, with all 36 points of an entertaining game scored at the clubhouse end.
Four wins from nine represents a more than respectable start in the Reserves league for Stu Littler’s side who play their final home game of the season against St Helens at Sutton Park on Saturday 27 July (2pm).
Littler has put together a talented group of committed players who display great pride in the shirt and it has been a pleasure to watch them this season.
Leopards then complete their league programme with away games at both Wakefield Trinity and London Broncos in August.
Leopards
1 Lewis Fairhurst (capt); 2 Alfie Whittle, 3 Tom Nisbet, 4 TJ Boyd, 5 Liam Copland; 6 Ben Tyrer, 7 Matty Horrocks; 8 Dan Norman, 9 Tommy Porter, 27 Delaine Bedward, 11 Ralph Wood, 12 Bailey Pemberton, 13 Tane Kane Bentley
Bench: 28 Toby Brannan, 29 Callum Disley, 20 Sam Bardsley, 16 Rhys Stanton. 18th player: Ryan Lockett (not used)
Tries: Whittle (45), Bentley (50), Bedward (60), Fairhurst (75)
Goals: Fairhurst 5/ 5
Giants
1 Oliver Whitford; 2 Beau Morrison, 3 Matthew Hanley, 19 Baily Tait, 5 Roman Sharma; 6 Ethane Wainwright, 7 Leo Ward; 8 Kameron Siddique, 9 Andrew Gill, 10 Charlie Land, 11 Max Merta, 13 Jack Johnson, 15 Jacob Algar
Bench: 16 Logan Blacker, 17 Thomas Hardy, 18 Luke Breedon, 14 Noah Broadbent. 18th player: Aahren Scott (not used)
Tries: Tait (22), Morrison (36)
Goals: Whitford 0/ 1, Ward 1/ 1
Referee: A Billington
Scoring sequence: 0-4, 0-10 (ht) 6-10, 12-10, 18-10, 20-10, 26-10
Penalty count: 6-5
