Jones lifts Leigh off bottom

Leigh 40 - Wakefield 18

A hat-trick of tries from Phil Jones lifted Leigh off the foot of Super League for the first time this season.

A hat-trick of tries from Phil Jones lifted Leigh off the foot of Super League for the first time this season.

The centre contributed 24 points with six goals as well as his three tries, but this was a team effort in which the whole side dug deep to finish far stronger than Trinity.

Wakefield squandered a couple of early opportunities when Sid Domic delayed his pass too long and when Jamie Rooney's to Jason Demetriou drifted forward. Rooney did then kick them into the lead after three Leigh players put their side under pressure by allowing a drop-out to bounce and elude them.

Mark Field's knock-on near his own line gave Leigh the chance to seize the lead, although Paul Rowley seemed to have lost control of the ball as he dived over the line. The video referee disagreed and the try was awarded, and then improved by Jones.

It was a shortlived lead. Julian O'Neill's pass sent Demetriou away to set up Rooney for Wakefield's first try. Without looking near their best, Wakefield seemed capable of extending the two-point lead given them by Rooney's conversion.

But they lost Mike Wainwright to the sin-bin on the half-hour for holding down John Duffy. In his absence, Leigh took advantage with a try begun by their new arrival, Robbie Mears, and finished by a neat dummy from Jones, who added the goal for a four point lead at half-time.

Four minutes into the second half, Wakefield took over again. Jamie Field drew in two men, and released Domic for a try to mark only his second appearance of the season.

David March's initial break and Ben Jeffries' instinctive pass put Mark Applegarth over for another Wakefield try. Leigh do not lack fight, however, and they hit back when Steve Maden beat Semi Tadulala to Duffy's high kick to level the scores.

Duffy's weak attempt at a drop goal failed to break the deadlock; but Leigh were about to explode into action.

Jones claimed his second from John Wilshire's pass, and then his third after the effervescent Duffy had made the break. Duffy also figured prominently in the last two tries, scored by Ben Cooper and, after a final pass from Jones, by Rob Smyth.

It completed the sort of scoreline Leigh frequently achieved in National League One, but which even their staunchest supporters doubted they could match in Super League. Now that they have climbed above Widnes, anything seems possible.

Leigh: Wilshere; Smyth, Jackson, Jones, Maden; Kent, Duffy; Fleary, Rowley, Stevens, Stapleton, Leafa, Knott. Substitutes used: Sturm, Marshall, Mears, Cooper.

Wakefield: M Field; Wainwright, Demetriou, Domic, Tadulala; Rooney, Jeffries; Griffin, Obst, Elima, Wrench, Applegarth, O'Neill. Substitutes used: March, Korkidas, J Field, Houles.

Referee: A Klein (London).