Farrell inspires Wigan as Leeds grind to a halt

Wigan 41 Leeds 18

Leeds ran out of time last night, but Wigan are running out of bodies in their bid to reach the Super League Grand Final.

The Rhinos' stop-start season finally ground to a halt as they gave themselves far too much to do in the second half at the JJB Stadium, but Wigan still have the hard part to do, facing St Helens or Bradford next week with an even more seriously depleted squad.

This might have been a comfortable victory in one sense, but it was achieved at a cost, with David Hodgson taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder, Julian O'Neill damaging a knee and Terry Newton dislocating his elbow.

"We'll have to tape these blokes together to get them on the pitch,'' said their coach Stuart Raper.

That is next weekend's worry; Wigan had this one won by half time, with three well worked tries, all of which owed something to Leeds' defensive frailties.

Kris Radlinski scored the first, finding a way through on a weaving run after taking Craig Smith's pass with no obvious gap in front of him.

Newton's fast pass from dummy half gave Sean Briscoe, one of the young reserves who have done more than could possibly have been asked of them in recent weeks, a chance to get outside Mark Calderwood and dive low to squeeze in at the corner.

When Andy Farrell left Matt Adamson sprawling with a side step it simply rubbed in his side's overwhelming superiority.

Both teams had lost a man to the sin-bin for the game's besetting sin of lying on in the tackle, but it was Leeds who conceded the bulk of the penalties awarded by Russell Smith.

"The ref was poor, but not as poor as us,'' said their coach, Darryl Powell. "We just gave away far too much ball. We improved in the second half, but you can't come back from that sort of scoreline in games like these.''

Leeds did improve their defence markedly and, after withstanding sustained pressure, got their reward with a try from Kevin Sinfield. Wigan kept them at arms length through a second try from Farrell, who finished with a personal tally of 20 points.

Adamson and Ryan Sheridan then brought Leeds to within 11 points with 10 minutes remaining. It was a margin that flattered them, but it was as close as they were going to get.

David Furner, who will be playing for Leeds next season, signed off at the JJB with a try and two goals and Martin Aspinwall, another of Wigan's rock solid irregulars, scored a try from Farrell's kick in the last minute.

It will take more heroics from him and other players who hardly expected to be involved in Super League play-offs this season to take Wigan further.

Wigan: Radlinski, Aspinwall, Connolly, Hodgson, Briscoe, O'Neill, Lam, O'Connor, Newton, C Smith, Cassidy, Furner, Farrell. Substitutes used: Tickle, Sculthorpe, O'Loughlin, Howard.

Leeds: Cummins, Calderwood, C Walker, Senior, Pratt, B Walker, Sheridan, Ward, Diskin, McDermott, Hay, Adamson, Sinfield. Substitutes used: McDonald, Carroll, Poching, Burrow.

Referee: R Smith (Castleford).

* Sydney Roosters should not be guilty of underestimating the New Zealand Warriors in tomorrow's National Rugby League Grand Final, especially if they are without Luke Ricketson, who is struggling to overcome injury. That would throw more responsibility on to the Englishman, Adrian Morley, who has been in outstanding form in the play-offs.