Despite two spirited comeback attempts in the second half, Leeds Rhinos Under-18s were narrowly beaten 19-18 by Warrington Wolves Under-18s, with Junior Westwood landing the decisive drop goal to send the Wolves top of the table at Victoria Park.

Billed as one of the closest fixtures of the Academy season so far, the game lived up to expectations as both sides went toe to toe for the full 80 minutes.

A slow start from the Rhinos saw Chev Walker’s side struggle to settle in the opening 20 minutes, allowing the Wolves to seize early control in front of their home crowd. Cameron Cooper opened the scoring inside five minutes, capitalising when the winger was put into space in the corner. Leeds began to find their rhythm shortly after, but a knock-on from Zak Lloyd gifted Warrington possession deep in Rhinos territory. Ewan Irwin then delivered a well-weighted pass for Dan Cooper to crash over, extending the hosts' lead to 12-0.

Centre Marcus Qareqare gave Leeds a lifeline before the break, touching down twice to keep the visitors within reach. His first came after some loose handling from the Wolves allowed the Rhinos to exploit the short side, with Qareqare breaking through to score. Although Lloyd and Harry Smith were both denied close to the line, Qareqare struck again with four minutes left in the half. A clever grubber from Smith behind the defence wrong-footed both Cooper and Charlie Walker, and Qareqare reacted quickest to touch down. Harley Thomas added the extras to reduce the deficit to 12-10 at the break.

The second half turned into a tense arm-wrestle, with neither side willing to concede ground. After 20 minutes of back-and-forth sets, Leeds thought they had taken the lead when Jacob Stead crashed onto a short ball, only to lose possession on his way to the ground.

Shortly afterwards, Walker’s side finally broke through. On the last tackle, George Brown calmly spun the ball wide and found namesake Oscar Brown, who stepped back inside to exploit a defensive gap and give the Rhinos their first lead of the match.

With Leeds ahead and 15 minutes to hold on, it took a moment of brilliance to turn the game back in Warrington’s favour. A half break by Walker slipped him past Qareqare and Stead, though Wade White showed excellent composure to bring him down. But Warrington weren’t done. Irwin produced a standout solo effort, chasing his own kick over the Leeds defence and regathering to score a superb try that nudged the hosts back in front.

The drama wasn’t over. Leeds earned their reward for persistence with just minutes remaining. On the last tackle, Lloyd looked to have blown the chance when he took the ball into contact, but he somehow got an offload away to George Brown, who darted to the corner to level the score at 18-18. Thomas’s touchline conversion drifted wide, setting up a tense finish.

With the game on a knife edge, it was the Wolves who seized the final opportunity. Westwood’s restart kick allowed Warrington to regain possession, and after patiently working their way towards the posts, the half-back calmly slotted the match-winning drop goal to seal a hard-fought victory and claim the league points for the home side.

Teams

Wolves

1. Lachlan Webster, 2. Cameron Cooper, 3. Charlie Walker, 4. Alfie Poles, 5. Jack Fallon, 6. Junior Westwood, 7. Ewan Irwin, 8. Isaac Holdsworth, 9. Lucas Mulqueeney, 19. Daniel Hackney, 11. Daniel Coop, 12. Oliver Bishop, 13. Daniel Regan

Subs: 14. Oliver Morgan, 15. Leyton Haddrell, 16. Tom Marshall, 17. Ellis Livesey (18th Man - Alex Wilson

Tries: Cooper (5), Coop (18), Irwin (72)

Goals: Irwin 3/3

Drop Goal: Westwood (78)

Drop Goal: Lino (79)

Rhinos

1. Wade White, 2. Harley Thomas, 4. Oscar Brown, 3. Marcus Qareqare, 5. Tom Richardson, 6. George Brown, 7. Harry Smith, 8. Dan Stelfox, 9. Joe Diskin, 10. Dacx Jones-Buchanan, 11. Jacob Stead, 12. Zak Lloyd, 13. Noah Whittingham

Subs: 14. Elliott Fox, 15. Hughie Tinkler, 16. Dax Millington, 17. Joe Butterfield (18th Man - Lore Jones-Buchanan)

Tries: Qareqare (22, 36), O.Brown (66), G.Brown (78)

Goals: Thomas 1/4