Leeds end slump after Appo's late miss
Leeds 34 Warrington 26
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Your support makes all the difference.Fortune Favoured Leeds in the dying stages of a fluctuating game as they ended their recent poor run.
The Rhinos were looking at a fourth game in a row without a win when Graham Appo lined up what should have been a simple conversion to tie the scores with four minutes to play. He missed and worse followed when Sid Domic lost the ball in his own 20 and Andrew Dunemann scored a try that gave Leeds a flattering scoreline.
Warrington had the first chance when Appo kicked ahead but then Ben Westwood was tackled after gathering the ball. They soon made good their omission when Brent Grose opened up the Leeds defence with a deft pass and Westwood this time got clear for the game's first try from 50 yards out.
Leeds had taken up where they left off with their insipid performance last week at Castleford and it took a double blunder from Warrington to get them moving.
First they were presented with scrum possession from a knock-on and then the Wolves defence opened to allow Kevin Sinfield to stroll over from the base of the scrum, leaving himself an easy kick into the bargain.
As half-time approached Leeds began to hit their stride, Matt Adamson rampaging down the right and Danny McGuire taking advantage of the disarray with some lovely footwork to release Matt Diskin.
Warrington got a much-needed boost immediately before the break when Domic barged his way over and Appo's goal cut the margin to four points.
It was another charge from Adamson that took Leeds further ahead in the second half, as he scattered would-be tacklers for McGuire to support and go over.
Two tries in three minutes then put Warrington back in front. Westwood claimed his second in the corner followed by a brilliant solo effort from Appo. His conversion gave them a two-point lead but Sinfield's pass to Francis Cummins transferred the advantage to the Rhinos once more, with Sinfield adding a conversion and a penalty.
Warrington's frantic efforts to get back into the game were rewarded when Appo got an instinctive pass to Nat Wood, but all their good work went to waste with a missed kick and a fumble and they now have little room for error as they try to clinch a place in the play-offs.
Leeds: Connolly; Mathers, McKenna, Senior, Cummins; McGuire, Dunemann; Ward, Diskin, Adamson, Furner, Poching, Sinfield. Substitutes used: Burrow, Feather, Jones-Buchanan, McDermott.
Warrington: Cardiss; Gaskell, Westwood, Noon, Grose; Appo, N Wood; Fozzard, Clarke, Hilton, Wainwright, P Wood, Domic. Substitutes used: Hulse, Gleeson, Guisset, Stevens.
Referee: R Silverwood (Mirfield).
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