Treble-winners Leeds Rhinos have begun the defence of their Super League crown with a 12-10 defeat at the hands of Warrington Wolves in the opening game of the new season this evening.
In the first match of the post-Jamie Peacock, Kevin Sinfield and Kylie Leuluai era at Headingley, a missed conversion proved crucial as Warrington began the new campaign in winning style.
A scrappy start to the match saw both sides make a number of handling errors in the opening exchanges, but it was Leeds who were piling the most pressure on for the majority of the first half.
Warrington held firm, however, and it was the visitors who finally got the first points on the board with just three minutes remaining of the half when Chris Sandow went over for the opening Super League try of the season after the Wolves had opted to run a penalty.
Leeds didn't take long to respond in the second half, levelling things up seven minutes after the interval when Brad Singleton crashed over and was adjudged to have grounded the ball by the video referee.
The champions were soon in front too as Ryan Hall opened his account for the year, touching down in the corner after good work from Joel Moon and Jordan Lilley. Man of Steel Zak Hardaker was faced with a tricky conversion, though, and narrowly missed the posts in what would prove to be a pivotal moment in the match.
The miss was punished 13 minutes from time when Kurt Gidley added the extras to a Kevin Penny try, which had been created when Sandow's kick was gathered by Ben Currie and passed out to the winger.
The Wolves were forced into some late defending as they looked to hang on to their lead, with Currie making a try-saving tackle to deny Rob Burrow, but once again the match was ultimately down to Hardaker, who missed the chance to level things up when he pulled a penalty wide with just three minutes remaining.
Barney Corkhill
