By Kian Walker

A young Rhinos Reserves produced a comfortable victory over Leigh Leopards at Golborne Parkside, taking control of the game early on and maintaining their dominance throughout.

The home side had the first couple of opportunities early on down the left-hand side, but failed to penetrate a well-structured Rhinos defence. It didn’t take long for the visitors to open the scoring however, doing so in quick succession with two tries in the space of three minutes. 

Beginning to build momentum, Rhinos came close to a third try ten minutes into the game. An excellent layoff from Joe Diskin provided Ben Littlewood with an opportunity, but he lost control of the ball metres from the tryline. Ethan O'Neill benefited moments later as the back rower pounced on a knock on by Leigh close to their own try line to touch down.

It didn’t take Leeds much longer to extend the lead -  Presley Cassell produced a clever pass allowing Harry Smith to try comfortably. Moments after converting the resulting kick, Oscar Brown dived over in the left corner for his first try of the game.

Now filled with confidence, Rhinos continued their domination and a fast-paced attacking move was finished off by Joe Diskin. Shortly after, Riley Lumb powered over, and another conversion foreshadowed a big scoreline in the making, before Jeremiah Matautia powered through the middle of the pitch before being brought down. Leeds regained possession, starting a quick move that ended with Diskin grabbing his second try of the day.

Leigh did break forward again towards the end of the half, working the ball around the middle of the field but ultimately were unable to deal with the level of pressure they were facing. Just as it looked like the hosts were finally growing into the game, they were caught off-guard by a fast paced counter attack finished off by Lumb. Following Thomas’ conversion, the referee blew for half-time with Leeds 46 to the good.

Showing no signs of slowing down, the young Rhinos continued where they left off after the break. After a brief stoppage due to a Leigh injury, they quickly continued their attacking rhythm. Receiving the ball from Elliott Fox, Zak Lloyd looked to be in but pressure from Leigh forced him to slow the move down. Looking eager to replicate their first-half scoring success, Leeds kept pushing for a way through. A great bit of build-up play involving Ben Littlewood and Jacob Stead allowed Zak Lloyd to charge through and cross for the visitors first try of the half.

With the scoreline getting further and further out of their reach, Leigh could not find a way to break down the valiant Rhinos. Quickly turning possession over, Leeds charged forward again with Harry Smith releasing the ball to Riley Lumb on his right-hand side, the latter showing blistering pace to get over the line once again.

Just two minutes later, Rhinos completed another quick attack following a set restart. In an immediate switch from a provider to a scorer, Harry Smith set the ball down. However, arguably the best try of the lot was scored shortly after; running the final third of the pitch and out of the way of his opponents, Fergus McCormack set the ball down in the corner.

Zak Lloyd appeared to be away having received the ball on the halfway line with no one to face in front of him, but was caught up to and challenged by the Leigh defence. Managing to release the ball to Elliott Fox in time, the latter continued the work of his teammate but was ultimately unable to bundle the ball across the line.

Less than a minute later, Lloyd did get another breakthrough and took full advantage of it - diving beneath the goalposts before the conversion sealed another six points.

Rhinos continued to overwhelm the hosts as the game entered its final stages with Harley Thomas waltzing around red shirts with ease before converting his own effort. Less than a minute after play resumed, Diskin secured his hat trick as he backed up a break by Fergus McCormack to seal his third score of the afternoon.

After converting his teammate’s effort, Thomas showed incredible pace in a powerful solo run through the middle, touching down once again. In the final chance of the game, Diskin charged through the centre in similar fashion, also making no mistake as he bundled the ball over for his fourth try and to seal a huge victory.

It was a dominant performance from a Reserve's squad who looked relentless in attack, combining strong forward carries with sharp movement to secure a comprehensive away victory.