Match report – Salford 6 – 14 Leigh

Tries from Josh Charnely, Gareth O’Brien and Edwin Ipape saw Leigh Leopards win the first elimination play-off in the Betfred Super League; Watch every game of the Super League play-offs, including the Grand Final, live on Sky Sports

Leigh Leopards’ fairytale run in the Betfred Super League continued as they beat hosts Salford Red Devils 14-6 in a thrilling elimination play-off clash.

Marc Sneyd’s 28th-minute penalty goal for the Red Devils was all that separated the teams at half-time after a furious and intense first half in the first elimination game played in front of a record crowd for a rugby league game at the AJ Bell Stadium.

But a 248th Super League try from Josh Charnley, who later had to be carried off the field after injuring himself in a tackle, and Gareth O’Brien, who went under the posts after Edwin Ipape’s break, helped Leigh to a leadership that they no longer wanted to relinquish.

Papua New Guinea star player Ipape’s solo goal in the final 15 minutes was enough to leave them just 80 minutes shy of their first Grand Final appearance, despite a late yellow card for Jack Hughes and an unconverted try from Ethan Ryan.

History of the game

It was a well-deserved win for the Leopards, who did it the hard way without influential second-rower Kai O’Donnell and were also without Frankie Halton due to a head injury in the early stages.

Salford manager Paul Rowley benched Ryan Brierley in favor of Chris Hankinson for the first time in two years and the stand-in full-back was ruled out of a first appearance after a typically up-and-down display from Sneyd.

Leigh posed their first real threat just before half-time when Hankinson almost saved a Zak Hardaker free-kick and after the restart they maintained their momentum by forcing several goal-line misses.

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Josh Charnley scored the first try of the night for Leigh Leopards against Salford Red Devils in the Super League play-offs

The visitors’ breakthrough came shortly after the hosts thought they had repelled a spell of pressure when Nene Macdonald shot past half-time from 50 yards, but then play was pulled back for an earlier attack.

From the resulting scrum, Ipape huddled close before the ball was played wide to Charnley, who acrobatically launched himself into the corner behind the post to the delight of the thousands of away fans.

Six minutes later, Leigh extended their lead when a slip from Oliver Partington allowed Ipape to canter through the middle and play a delicious long pass to centre-back O’Brien, who crossed in celebration, with Moylan’s conversion extending his side’s lead to eight increased.

After Charnley’s worrying exit after an hour after landing awkwardly in a tackle on Brierley, Ipape made it 3-0 but secured Leigh’s place in the semi-finals. Salford winger Ryan’s late try, which was not converted by Sneyd, was too late to seriously spoil the Leopards’ hard-fought side.

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Gareth O’Brien extended Leigh Leopards’ lead against Salford Red Devils in the Super League elimination play-off

What they said

Leigh Leopards Head coach Adrian Lam:

“I’m just so proud of her.

“The courage we showed to keep showing up – and they only had one shot to score when we were down to 12 points.”

“Josh Charnley is on the way to the hospital. He has braces and is on his way there.”

“But he’s conscious and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that he’s okay.”

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Edwin Ipape managed to extend their lead with three tries for Leigh Leopards against Salford Red Devils

Leigh Leopards Hooker and Player of the Match Edwin Ipape:

“It’s been a massive two weeks for the club and we’ve had a massive three weeks leading up to this game where if we hadn’t won so many games we wouldn’t have been able to win tonight.”

“Thank you to the boys for their hard work and I thought the boys were great tonight.”

“I was just lucky to get over the finish line and contribute to this win.”

Salford Red Devils Head coach Paul Rowley:

“I am very proud of her. I thought we were the better team in the first half and Leigh were the better team in the second half.”

“I think it was a really good game – a real cup final.”

“Thanks to Leigh and good luck to her in the next round.”

“Performing above average is a good year, but success for me means winning trophies.”

What’s next?

Leigh Leopards Now travel to either one Wigan Warriors or Hull KR in the play-off semi-finals next week until the result of the elimination game between Saturday and Saturday is announced Warrington Wolves And St Helenswhich will be broadcast live on Sky Sports+ (kick-off 5:30 p.m.).

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sport at no additional cost this year. Find out more here.