WATCH - Leeds Rhinos 14 Wigan Warriors 23: Richard Agar assesses defeat and Kallum Watkins' move to Gold Coast Titans

On the back of wins over London Broncos and Wakefield Trinity, a third successive victory looked on the cards, too, when they led champions Wigan Warriors approaching the hour mark last night.

The excellent Trent Merrin had charged over between the posts in the 50th minute, from the similarly quality Brad Dwyer’s delayed pass, Tui Lolohea converting for a 14-11 lead.

Moreover, Headingley was rocking again. It was like the days of old.

Leeds had been applying pressure and it looked like they could march on from here and, with Wigan looking visibly confused, seal a crucial victory.

However, Rhinos fans now know not to take anything for granted; the visitors found another gear to hit back on the hour and put Leeds straight back to square one.

Lolohea was admirable in trying to get out from behind his own line but, in doing so, was then bundled into touch, conceding a 10m scrum rather than a drop-out.

In the next set, Liam Farrell crabbed across field until a rare gap emerged and sent Oliver Partington flying through untouched for Chirs Hankison to slot his fourth goal.

Admittedly, Richard Agar’s side rallied; Ava Seumanufagai made a big contribution again and he got over the line as Leeds tried to regain the lead, only to be held up by desperate defence.

Next up, Richard Myler should have done better but his woeful chip to the corner only ended up in the stands and left Agar with his head in his hands.

It was the second time the England scrum-half had kicked directly into touch.

They badly missed Liam Sutcliffe’s organising, the stand-off who had departed for an HIA, forcing back-row Cameron Smith into the halves.

Still, Merrin was awarded a try by referee Chris Kendall in the 72nd minute after another strong burst at the Wigan defence only for video referee Ben Thaler to rightly ruled he marginally lost control of the ball.

It was Leeds’ last chance. Instead, Lolhea tried chipping over from his own 20m line with the very last play easily collected by Tony Clubb.

Rather than going to ground, as was expected, the prop twisted and set off on a surge to the corner, outpacing Brett Ferres in a bizarre finish (even then he did not seem to ground it properly) that perhaps sums up Leeds’ season. Rhinos remain just two points off bottom.

They had generally defended well, showing the new-found resilience established in those previous wins, and Wigan found it difficult to break them down.

Old issues raised their ugly heads again, though, not least a lack of discipline at crucial times and some poor ball control.

But they only conceded the one try in the first half, Oliver Gildart getting on the outside of Harry Newman to cruise over from 25m out, giving the otherwise impressive youngster a reminder of how easy it can be to get caught out at this level.

With Zak Hardaker missing injured, youngster Hankinson tok over kicking duties for Wigan and coolly converted the 21st minute try from the touchline.

The centre added two penalties soon after, the second after Merrin needlessly held onto Morgan Smithies too long at the play-the-ball.

That gave Wigan a 10-2 advantage, Sutcliffe having given Leeds a 2-0 lead with a 16th minute penalty, already establishing it would be a night where defences would largely been on top.

Rhinos could easily have faltered further but that spirit saw them escape any further damage and they earned a riposte when a flop on Lolohea gained them a relieving penalty.

Konrad Hurrell and, typically, Merrin made forceful drives, allowing Dwyer to dart out of dummy-half and send Adam Cuthbertson barrelling over.

It was an important score, not just for Leeds but the Australian prop who had experienced some poor moments in the first period, twice coughing up possession.

Sutcliffe’s conversion reduced the deficit further and Leeds should really have earned another penalty after Wigan failed to clear a ruck, Dwyer spilling as he was forced to go alone.

Instead, the visitors worked their way downfield and Sam Powell - whose unlikely drop goal sealed Wigan victory at Hull KR on Sunday - slotted another one-pointer for an 11-8 interval advantage.

By the end, they edged another win and lifted up to mid-table, the position Leeds still long for.