Warriors end Leeds hopes with lesson in finishing

Wigan's Warriors lived up to their sobriquet in reaching the final eliminator of the Super League Grand Final, their 41-18 victory over Leeds night being achieved at considerable cost. Already without four international threequarters, they lost a fifth when David Hodgson was taken to hospital with a dislocated shoulder and stand-off Julian O'Neill (knee) and hooker Terry Newton (dislocated elbow) also joined their list of casualties.

The Wigan coach, Stuart Raper, admitted his team have a tough task if they are to have a chance of adding the trophy to the Challenge Cup already won. "We're struggling,", he said. "We'll have to tape these blokes up, nail them together if we have to. Whatever we have to do, we'll get 17 guys on the pitch and they'll put their bodies on the line again."

Such fighting spirit was evident on Friday night as captain Andy Farrell led the way with a 20-point haul in the first elimination semi-final. Their reward is an away tie against Bradford or St Helens in next Friday's final eliminator.

The Warriors tied up the game in the first 23 minutes by establishing a 19-0 lead, and they were 27-6 ahead after an hour. Only late tries from Matt Adamson and Ryan Sheridan gave erratic Leeds some credibility.

Farrell had opened the scoring with a 10th-minute shot at goal after the visitors had been penalised, and it was no surprise when they were reduced to 12 men, referee Russell Smith sending Chev Walker to the sin-bin for a series of play-the-ball infringements. Dave Furner was also shown the yellow card as the penalty count evened up, but by then the Warriors were well in command.

Leeds were handed a lesson in finishing when Wigan full-back Kris Radlinski took Craig Smith's pass and eluded two lines of defence to cross for his try. The Wigan left wing, Shaun Briscoe, and Farrell then also scored before the captain kicked his third goal and Adrian Lam, the form player of the season, knocked over a drop goal.

By this stage they were out of sight, and their second-half performance was only dampened when stand-off O'Neill limped off, while hooker Newton also went off holding his injured chest.

The introduction of Wayne McDonald and Rob Burrow temporarily livened up Leeds ,but they were continually pinned back by the raking touchfinders of Lam.

Leeds, who had twice beaten Wigan in Super League competition at the JJB Stadium this season, did not help their cause by frittering away precious possession through careless handling and indiscipline.

The Rhinos overcame a 16-point deficit the last time the two sides met, but Wigan were made of sterner stuff this time round and second-half tries from Kevin Sinfield, Matt Adamson and Ryan Sheridan were token efforts.

In what could have been a resignation speech, the Leeds coach, Daryl Powell, con-ceded that Leeds had under-achieved once more, failing to produce the goods when it mattered most for the second time in six months.

"We got to the Challenge Cup semi-final and didn't perform in that and we've to another big game and once again didn't perform. That makes it very disappointing for us," he said.