By Alicia Newton
The Rhinos defeated Yorkshire rivals Wakefield Trinity 34-18 to claim their first win of the 2022 Super League season in a tense battle at the Belle Vue Stadium.
The visitors opened the scoring as David Fusitu’a crossed in the opening five minutes after they were awarded a penalty ten metres from Wakefield’s try line.
Two further tries came from Leeds’ Morgan Gannon and Harry Newman in the opening 15 minutes of the match as they looked to improve on recent performances.
Leeds were awarded a penalty just before the 20-minute mark which was converted by Rhyse Martin.
In the final ten minutes of the second half the visitors ran in two more tries from Winger Ash Handley as they capitalised on errors from Wakefield’s Lewis Murphy and David Fifita.
Leeds’ injury list continued growing as Harry Newman suffered a dead leg on his return to the side just six minutes into the second half.
Wakefield scored their first try of the match through Max Jowitt as he capitalised from Mason Lino’s kick with around half an hour left on the clock.
However, it was Leeds who sealed their victory as Handley scored his third of the match after Wakefield’s debutant Murphy struggled to control a kick.
The visitors’ night was damped as hooker Kruise Leeming was sin-binned with less than 15 minutes to go after a high-tackle.
Trinity softened the blow in the final three minutes of the match as they ran in tries from Jowitt and Tom Johnstone as they continue to search for their first win of the season.
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