A 52-point second half saw Leeds Rhinos Under-18s get back to winning ways as four tries from Zak Lloyd and hat tricks from Marcus Qareqare and Wade White helped Chev Walker’s side to an 84-24 win at Golbourne Parkside.

Despite the full time score, the Rhinos got off to a horror start as they found themselves 24-10 down after 22 minutes. Zak Mannion got the opening try for the home side as the centre cut back off the wing to beat the challenge of Dan Stelfox and Zak Lloyd to force his way over the try line, but Leeds mustered a response as Wade White cut through the Leigh defence to get his first of the afternoon.

The Rhinos looked to be making strong strides when Marcus Qareqare benefited from a break by Stelfox to touch down in the corner, but three consecutive tries from the home side came as a surprise as they looked to upset the Rhinos. Taking the most of penalties against the visitors, Noel Rafferty forced his way over to edge the Leopards ahead once again, before two tries in four minutes from Mannion gave Leigh an unlikely 24-10 foothold in the contest.

The Rhinos needed a response to keep themselves in the game and four tries before the break stabilised an under-par 40 minutes from the top two side. Noah Whittingham took a short pass in the face of the Leigh defence well to force his way to the line before White added a second score of the afternoon thanks to good work initially from George Brown.

Qareqare was quick to get his second of the game too as the speedy winger was given room to roam for another finish in the corner as the Rhinos moved into a two-point lead. Harvey Butterworth, who had an impressive game off the bench, also drove his way to the try line out of dummy half to make the score 32-24 at half time.

After some strong words in the changing rooms at half time, Leeds came out fighting in the second half and were unstoppable as they recorded 52 unanswered points.

White completed his hat trick as the full back was given too much room to attack as he scored his tenth try of the campaign, and three minutes later Whittingham was in for his second with a routine finish. Zak Lloyd added to his success with the kicking tee as he touched down three times in the space of 13 minutes, plus Joe Butterfield also added to the growing list of Leeds scorers with a ploughing run for the posts.

Debutant Max Rhodes impressed in his first Academy outing and the centre should have scored his first points for the club, but was unlucky not to stay in the field when diving for the corner. Despite not scoring himself, he did the next best thing as his break played a role in Harry Smith taking the Rhinos beyond 70 points.

Lloyd’s fourth of the game kept the scoreboard ticking as the back rower finished the game with a personal points haul of 38 points. Qareqare had the final say in the game though as the winger supported a break from Harley Thomas to take the Rhinos score to 84 points when the final whistle sounded.

Teams

Leopards

14. Henry Parker, 2. Noel Gardner-Lewis, 21. Dylan Hughes, 4. Zak Mannion, 5. Bradley Kernahan, 6. Lucas Tyrer, 7. Noel Rafferty, 8. Oliver Stankevitch, 19. Reece Robinson, 10. Lleyton Jupp, 11. Reuben Smith, 12. Jayden Aaron, 13. Reece Galvin

Subs: 9. Ellis Carroll, 15. Leon Stretton, 16. Joe Higgins-Meadows, 17. Dylan Abram (18^th Man – 3. Harry Knowles)

Tries: Mannion (3, 18, 22), Rafferty (16)

Goals: Tyrer 4/4

Rhinos

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

Subs: 14. Harvey Butterworth, 15. Hughie Tinkler, 16. Lore Jones-Buchanan, 17. Max Rhodes (18^th Man – Jacob Stead)

Tries: White (7, 28, 42), Qareqare (9, 36, 79), Whittingham (25, 45), Butterworth (39), Lloyd (53, 58, 65, 70), Butterfield (62), Smith (67)

Goals: Lloyd 11/14, Thomas 1/1