Wakefield Trinity 12 Leigh Leopards 20: Josh Rourke's errors costly as hosts miss out on Challenge Cup semi-finals

That was the case for Wakefield Trinity on Friday night as they crashed out of the Challenge Cup at the hands of 2023 winners Leigh Leopards.

Josh Rourke's try left Trinity on course for a first semi-final appearance since 2016, only for the stand-in full-back to undo all his good work with a costly error.

Rourke was guilty of a stone-cold drop from a deep kick and could only watch on as Tesi Niu scored from the scrum.

The former London Broncos man compounded the mistake with a wayward pass that allowed Bailey Hodgson to secure Leigh's place in the last four.

It was a case of what might have been for Trinity after taking a 12-6 lead into the closing stages.

The upshot is that another Challenge Cup campaign is over for a club that last lifted the famous old trophy in 1963.

Worryingly for Daryl Powell, Wakefield's wait for a home win goes on following a fourth straight defeat.

Trinity stretched their winning streak on the road to five matches last week with a 40-14 victory at Leigh Sports Village but would no doubt swap those two Super League points for a semi-final spot.

While Wakefield have shown enough to suggest they can challenge for the play-offs, this result will sting.

Leigh arrived at Belle Vue late after an extended stay on the M62 but there were no signs of travel fatigue in a breathless start to the game.

Trinity did most of the early running after a 20/40 by Mason Lino put them on the front foot.

Isaiah Vagana was denied just short of the tryline before Matty Russell was bundled into touch by Hodgson.

The Leopards continued to defend stoutly and had shown enough with the ball to suggest they could hurt their hosts, livewire full-back David Armstrong serving a warning with a half-break from deep.

Wakefield were struggling to limit Leigh's metres but a kick was their undoing for the opening try.

The Leopards sent the ball out to the right flank on the last tackle and Keanan Brand kicked back inside for Lachlan Lam to finish.

Niu was held up over the line as Leigh went in search of a second and Trinity remained resolute.

The home side lost half-back Oliver Russell to injury in the closing stages of the half but thought they were level when Rourke went over, only to be denied by a theatrical dive from Lam that bought Leigh a penalty for obstruction.

After Gareth O'Brien shanked a drop-goal attempt, Rourke went close again from Lino's high kick.

The half-time interval brought a change of fortune for Trinity as they turned the cup tie on its head.

Wakefield got the break they were looking for when Leigh allowed Lino's lofted kick to bounce and Russell was on the spot to finish.

Lino nailed his touchline conversion to make it 6-6 and hand Trinity the initiative.

There was nothing lucky about Wakefield's second try, Jay Pitts delaying his pass long enough to present Oliver Pratt with the chance to streak away down the left and give the supporting Rourke a clear run to the line.

When Lino added the extras from in front, the Belle Vue faithful were dreaming of a rare semi-final appearance.

But all it took was a dropped kick to swing the tie back in Leigh's favour.

Rourke was immediately punished by Niu, the powerful centre swatting aside several would-be tacklers to dive over under the posts.

Pratt tried to switch the momentum with another break from deep but Trinity were behind again when O'Brien added a penalty to his conversion after he was caught late following a kick.

It went from bad to worse for Rourke with Leigh gifted their third try.

After fielding a kick close to his own line, the full-back gave Russell too much to do with a wild pass and Hodgson scooped up the loose ball to score under the posts.

O'Brien missed a late penalty but Wakefield's race was run.

Wakefield Trinity: Rourke, M Russell, Scott, Pratt, Johnstone, Lino, O Russell, McMeeken, Hood, Hamlin-Uele, Croft, Vagana, Pitts. Substitutes: Rodwell, Atoni, Cozza, Smith.

Tries: Russell (42), Rourke (49)

Goals: Lino 2/2

Leigh Leopards: Armstrong, Hodgson, Niu, Hanley, Brand, O'Brien, Lam, Trout, Ipape, Mulhern, O'Neill, Halton, Liu. Substitutes: Hughes, Tuitavake, Davis, Brogan.

Tries: Lam (19), Niu (58), Hodgson (68)

Goals: O'Brien 4/5

Referee: Jack Smith.