First Utility Super League XIX - Round 27 Review

So after 27 rounds the First Utility Super League regular season was done and dusted.

St Helens finished League Leaders after Castleford Tigers failed to win in Perpignan over Catalo Dragons who finished seventh.

Wigan grabbed second spot with a comeback win over fifth place Warrington Wolves.

Huddersfield Giants finished third after defeating St Helens and despite finishing sixth the Leeds Rhinos go in to the Finals series bang out of form after suffering a fifth successive league defeat:

Wigan Warriors 24

Tries: Burgess 2, Charnley 2, Green
Goals: Smith 2

Warrington Wolves 20

Tries: J. Monaghan 2, Myler
Goals: Ratchford 4

Att: 15,656

Wigan Warriors came from behind to deny Warrington Wolves and claim second spot in a repeat of last year's Grand Final at the D.W. Stadium.

In the last game of the regular season, the play-offs began a week early as two heavyweights went at each other from the start.

Wolves winger Joel Monaghan, had a try denied by some good cover defence and this led to Wigan taking the lead when Sean O'Loughlin's cut-out pass was taken by young winger Joe Burges who touchdown in the corner.

The hosts should have been further ahead after the first quarter but they were made to pay as the Wolves hit them with three tries in the last twelve minutes of the first half.

Monaghan took Chris Bridge's pass to finish off a slick handling move on 26 minutes and eight minutes later Bridge was chef architect again as he sent scrum-half Richie Myler over underneath the posts.

Myler then setup the third with a high kick to the corner and Monaghan collected the ball with centimetres to spare for his 28th try of the year. Stefan Ratchford made it three from three as the visitors had a useful 18-4 lead at the break.

Wigan rallied superbly in the second half and immediately struck back when Burgess went over for his second try out wide and soon after it was game on as Josh Charnley hacked the ball ahead and won the race to touchdown. Matty Smith missed his third goal as the gap was cut to 18-12.

Ratchford extended the Wolves lead with a 58th-minute penalty as both sides were down to 12 men after Paul Wood and Eddy Pettybourne were sin-binned for trading punches.

Charnley intercepted a loose pass from on Michael Monaghan and raced 80 metres to scores and then Wigan got back the lead fifteen minutes from time when Melbourne bound stand-off Blake Green forced his way over from close range. Smith added the extras to make it 24-20 as the Warriors held on at the end to claim a morale boosting win and a home tie against Huddersfield Giants.

Huddersfield Giants 17

Tries: Connor, Lunt, Cudjoe
Goals: Connor 2
Drop Goal: Cudjoe

St Helens 16

Tries: Makinson, Roby, Hohaia
Goals: Percival 2

Att: 7,244

Huddersfield Giants edged past St Helens in a tense game at the John Smith's Stadium to book a top four finish.

Saints went into this one still looking for a point to clinch pole position ahead of the play-offs and the Giants likewise where a win for them would give them a top four finish.

The visitors made the early running and eventually took the lead when good work by talisman James Roby led to Tommy Makinson scoring the opening try on 21 minutes.

Three minutes later the England hooker finished off a superb move as St Helens, with Mark Percival's goal made it 10-but the whole game changed with moment of madness soon after.

Alex Walmsley was shown the red card for his ugly challenge on Luke Robinson meaning Saints would have to play 55 minutes with twelve men.

Just before the interval Jake Connor followed up his grubber kick to touchdown as the lead was down to 10-6 and within 90 seconds of the re-start a superb powerful run by big Tongan Ukuma Ta'ai led to Shaun Lunt darting over from dummy half, and Connor's second goal edged the Giants in-front 12-10.

Now firmly on the front foot, Huddersfield made the most of Saints skipper Paul Wellens dropped ball when Leroy Cudjoe picked up the loose ball and sprinted over for his side's third try.

St Helens would not give in and a charge down the middle by Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook created the position for Lance Hohaia to level things up and setup a tense finish.

Connor had a drop-goal attempt charged down but Huddersfield regained the ball and at the end of the next set Cudjoe coolly slotted the ball over for a vital one point.

St Helens had two drop-goal attempts before the end but they both failed as the Giants held on for the win which means third spot and a visit to Wigan next Thursday.

For Saints 24 hours later they were crowned League Leaders as Castleford Tigers lost in Perpignan, which means St Helens will entertain them next Friday Night.

Hull FC 24

Tries: Lineham, Ellis, Talanoa, Logan 2
Goals: Rankin 2

Leeds Rhinos 19

Tries: Ablett, McGuire, Hall
Goals: Sinfield 3
Drop Goal: Sinfield

Att: 11,964

Hull FC produced a stunning last quarter fight back, at the K.C. Stadium, to hand Challenge Cup winners Leeds Rhinos a fifth successive Super League defeat.

This was Hull FC legend Richard Horne's final game as he bought the curtain down on his 15 year career against the Leeds Rhinos, the same team he made his debut against.

The first half was a dour affair as both sides struggled to hold on to the ball and the first try of the game came courtesy of an error when Leeds Full-Back Zak Hardaker lost the ball in contact and FC punished them as Tom Lineham scored a easiest of tries.

Horne was denied a dream try when Carl Ablett cutting him down and the big Rhinos second rower got his side on the scoreboard by powering over three minute from the break. Kevin Sinfield added the extras and a drop goal on the half-time hooter to make it 7-4.

Leeds were the dominant side in the third quarter as they took control of the game. Kallum Watkins picked up a loose ball and raced 70-meters then fed the supporting Danny McGuire as the lead went out to 13-4.

Quick hands from McGuire and Liam Sutcliffe created the space for Ryan Hall to finish in the corner and going into the last twenty minutes the men from Headingley led 19-4.

However, this suddenly sprung The Black and Whites into action and they hit back with four tries in a fifteen minute spell to snatch an unlikely win. First to score was ex Rhino Gareth Ellis who followed up a kick from Kirk Yeaman and his offload setup Fetuli Talanoa.

Now enter teenage Jack Logan who scored a brace , firstly he took a pass from Lineham and then with the roaring home crowd behind him he slid over five minutes from time to complete a remarkable win as Hull end their season in style and for Leeds they enter the race for Old Trafford not in good form.

Salford Red Devils 36

Tries: Hansen, Sau 2, Puletua, Chase, Griffin
Goals: J. Griffin 6

Widnes Vikings 6

Tries: Ah Van
Goal: Owens

Att: 3,268

Salford Reds ended their season on a bit of a high with a one-sided win over Widnes Vikings at the A.J. Bell Stadium.

Widnes, with one eye on next week's play-offs, rested skipper Jon Clarke, Kevin Brown, Eamon O'Carroll, Danny Tickle and Rhys Hanbury as they were looking for third win over Salford this year.

It took just four minutes for the Red Devils to take the lead Jack Owens spilled a Rangi Chase kick and Harrison Hansen was on hand to score. Another drop ball from a Chase kick led to the second score this time Junior Sau accepted the gift. Josh Griffin kicked his second goal as the hosts led 12-0 after 11 minutes.

Salford added another two score just before the break. Firstly Theo Fages and Jason Walton combined for Tony Puletua to go over before superb footwork by Chase gave the home side a commanding 24-0 lead.

After the resumption normal service was resumed as another kick caused confusion in the Vikings defence, Josh Griffin was the main beneficiary and by kicking his fifth goal the Red Devils too their advantage to 30-0.

Sau added his second touchdown on the hour with Griffin maintaining his 100 per cent kicking record and eight minutes from time the shutout was avoided for Widnes when Patrick Ah Van got on the end of Joe Mellor's kick for a consolation.

So Salford season ends in ninth spot with Widnes travelling to great rivals Warrington Wolves next week in an elimination play-off game.

London Broncos 36

Tries: Cook, Keyes, Drinkwater 2, Dollapi, Slyney
Goals: Drinkwater 6

Bradford Bulls 46

Tries: Gale 4, Arundel, Kearney, Pitts, Manuokafoa
Goals: Foster 7

Att: 1,402

Bradford Bulls bowed out of Super League with victory over fellow relegation strugglers London Broncos in a high scoring game at The Hive.

With both sides already thinking ahead for next year in the Championship, a number of fringe players were given thier chance and it was the Bulls who made the early running. Luke Gale stepped through a handful of tackles to crash over inside four minutes.

Two minutes later it was 12-0, Adam Henry breaking clear and offloading for Gale to make it a quickfire double. Joe Arundel scored try number three before the Broncos hit back with four unanswered tries.

Scott Moore's short pass allowed skipper Matt Cook to race home midway through the half and then an interception by Ben Farrar led to Joe Keyes crossing underneath the posts on 22 minutes.

Three minutes later the Londoners were ahead, Josh Drinkwater converting his own try after good work from Keyes and Cook. On 36 minutes Erjon Dollapi scored the fourth as the hosts led 24-16 at the break.

Nick Slyney crossing for London's fifth try shortly after the resumption before Bradford hit back thorugh Brett Kearney as he got on the end of a kick by Jamie Foster.

Jay Pitts surged over on 62 minutes and then the Bulls retook the lead as Gale completed his hat-tick. Drinkwater went over for his second as London led 36-34

Enter the Castleford bound Gale who scored his fourth and then in the final minute Manase Manuokafoa romped over as Bradford ended thier disappointing campaign with a win as the Londoners finished with the wooden spoon with just one win all season over Leeds Rhinos.

Catalan Dragons 28

Tries: Escare 2, Whitehead 2, Henderson
Goals: Bosc 4

Castleford Tigers 6

Tries: Dixon
Goals: Sneyd

Att: 6,195

Catalan Dragons denied Castleford Tigers the League Leaders Shield with a comfortable win at the Gilbert Brutus Stadium in Perpignan.

A win for Castleford in this game would end thier 88-year wait to finish at the top of the league, but the Dragons were ready to spoil the party and they took the lead on the half hour mark when the ball was passed through seven sets of hands which led to Morgan Escare scoring a fine team try. Thomas Bosc added the goal to take the scores to 6-0.

Escare then produced a piece of individual brilliance with eight seconds remaining of the first half, latching onto Daryl Millard's offload; the Catalan Full-Back dived full-length to twist his body and touchdown in the corner.

The Frenchside continued to dominate in the second half and Elliott Whitehead finished off another flowing move to go over in the corner.

Trailing 16-0, Castleford hit straight back, Bosc knocking on 30 metres from his own line to gift field position to the hosts. The Tigers ran a play down the right-hand side, Luke Dorn taking the ball to the line before offloading to Oliver Holmes whose quick hands to Kirk Dixon allowed the winger to score in the corner. Marc Sneyd added the conversion from the touchline to take the scores to 16-6.

However, this would be as close as they got with the Dragons adding two further scores to complete a one-sided win. Ian Henderson squeezed over for the first and then the game was put to bed when the hooker setup Whitehead for his second as Catalan booked an elimination play-off tie at Leeds Rhinos next Saturday.

So despite the loss Castleford - 200-1 rank outsiders to finish top means at the start of the season- finished fourth and travel to Saints next Friday in an attempt to make thier Second final of the year.

Wakefield Wildcats 18

Tries: Collis, Riley, Raleigh
Goals: Sykes 3

Hull KR 42

Tries: Caro 3, Hallett 2, Eden 2, Carlile
Goals: Hall 5

Att: 4,481

Hull KR had a good end to the season with a thumping win over Wakefield Wildcats at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium.

Both these had nothing to play for but pride and it took just two minutes for Omari Caro to get things underway for Rovers as he took Greg Eden‘ pass to score out wide.

18 year old winger Macauley Hallett struck for his first try on 17 minutes. Five minutes later, loose forward Neville Costigan put Eden through a gap on halfway for the Full back to score.

Hallett pouncing on another Wakefield handling error to add his second , Caro then went 90 metres after intercepting Ali Lauitiiti pass and completed his hat-trick a minute before half-time after collecting Eden's perfectly-judged grubber kick.

Craig Hall, who will be playing for the Wildcats, next year, kicked three goals as the side from East Yorkshire led 30-0 at the break.

Four minutes into the second half Keal Carlile increased Rovers' lead when he burrowed his way over from dummy half but Wakefield did not collapse and hit back themselves. Dean Collis collected Tim Smith's pinpoint grubber kick and Sykes added the goal.

Eden took a short pass from Burns to register his second try on 57 minutes to make it 42-6 but the Wildcats had the final say when Chris Riley took Pita Godinet's long pass to cross at the corner, while Andy Raleigh score a fine solo effort as Wakefield finished third from bottom as Rovers had something to cheer as they finished ahead of great local rivals Hull FC.

FINAL SUPER LEAGUE TABLE courtesy Super League website:


1	St Helens	27	19	0	8	796	563	233	38
2	Wigan Warriors	27	18	1	8	834	429	405	37
3	Huddersfield Giants	27	17	3	7	785	626	159	37
4	Castleford Tigers	27	17	2	8	814	583	231	36
5	Warrington Wolves	27	17	1	9	793	515	278	35
6	Leeds Rhinos	27	15	2	10	685	421	264	32
7	Catalan Dragons	27	14	1	12	733	667	66	29
8	Widnes Vikings	27	13	1	13	611	725	-114	27
9	Hull Kingston Rovers	27	10	3	14	627	665	-38	23
10	Salford Red Devils	27	11	1	15	608	695	-87	23
11	Hull FC	27	10	2	15	653	586	67	22
12	Wakefield Wildcats	27	10	1	16	557	750	-193	21
13	Bradford Bulls	27	8	0	19	512	984	-472	10
14	London Broncos	27	1	0	26	438	1237	-799	2