Wigan edge out Rhinos in classic

11:00pm Friday 4th July 2008

Wigan held off a tremendous onslaught in a JJB Stadium thriller to claim a 23-22 win and condemn engage Super League champions Leeds to a third defeat in four matches.

The Rhinos, who trailed 23-6 after an hour, looked set to pull off a sensational victory after scoring three tries in a frantic and dramatic 10-minute spell that cut the gap to a single point but Rob Burrow missed a last-minute 40-metre penalty.

Leeds could now lose top spot if St Helens beat Harlequins by 32 points at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

Wigan had earlier turned on the style to stun the visitors with three first half tries without reply. Winger Cameron Phelps, the Warriors recent signing from Canterbury Bulldogs, grabbed two tries in the first nine minutes as the home side made a dream start.

A neat off-load by Gareth Hock freed full-back Pat Richards, and although the supporting Thomas Leuluai was eventually hauled down, the Rhinos were sufficiently stretched for Phelps to win the race to touch down Brent Barrett's perfectly-judged kick.

Richards added a conversion, the first of three goals, and Leuluai combined with centre George Carmont to get the Australian over for his second try. And after 29 minutes substitute Liam Colbon re-gathered Leuluai's lofted kick to claim his side's third try.

It was a similar story in the second half with Burrow looking dangerous only to lose the ball over the try line, but it was the diminutive half-back who sparked the fightback with 51 minutes gone. His trademark dash through the heart of the Wigan defence took him clear and, when his former Rhinos team-mate Mark Calderwood got back to haul him down, McGuire was in support to finish off the move.

Kevin Sinfield, whose 63-match scoring sequence came to an end when he sat out last week's win over Castleford, started a new run with the conversion to make it 17-6. But Richards calmed Wigan's nerves with a second penalty and centre Darrell Goulding looked to have sealed the win when he fought his way out of tackles to score a fourth try on the hour.

The Rhinos launched all out attack - Hall squeezed over at the corner and three minutes later winger Scott Donald palmed the ball back from Burrow's kick for Keith Senior to touch down. Sinfield's second conversion cut the gap to seven points and it was down to one eight minutes from the end when another clever pass from McGuire found Gareth Ellis in space to score.

With Sinfield off the field, Burrow added the conversion and he was handed a glorious opportunity to win it at the death when Wigan were pulled up for offside 40 metres out but his kick fell short and wide of the target.

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