One player gets 8 in Peter Smith's Leeds Rhinos player ratings from 16-14 defeat at Warrington Wolves

After conceding the opening try, Rhinos hit back really well to go 14-6 in front after 51 minutes. It stayed that way until 18 minutes from time when the hosts cut the gap with a converted try. Even then, Leeds looked like hanging on, but five minutes from time Keenan Palasia was sin-binned for a shoulder to the head of rival forward Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Matt Dufty and Stefan Ratchford created the winning try for Jake Thewlis in the resulting set.

Leeds’ opening score appeared to come from a forward pass, but they didn’t get the rub of the green after that and should have had one last opportunity in Warrington’s half, but referee Tom Grant let the clock run down with Rhinos set for the scrum.

It wasn’t a poor performance by Rhinos, but they should have been able to see the game out, even after stand-off Brodie Croft left the action injured. Too many errors and penalties conceded - the final count was seven-four in Warrington’s favour - cost them the game and wasted a lot of hard work and some impressive defence.

The deadlock was broken after 12 minutes. Warrington full-back Dufty’s long pass in his own half found Aaron Lindop and the winger chipped ahead and regathered to score a try out of nothing, which Marc Sneyd improved for the first of his two goals.

Winger Riley Lumb had been caught out trying to intercept Dufty’s pass, but quickly made amends with a break which led to Leeds drawing level just six minutes later. He was tackled, but on the next play, the last, Croft shifted the ball right and Jake Connor’s pass was finished powerfully by James McDonnell. Connor added the extras.

There It was Connor with the assist again on 27 minutes, this time a superb pass to send Lumb over at the corner, though too far out for the scrum-half to tag on the two. There was some excellent ball movement in the build-up, after Lumb had been tackled just short.

Characteristically, Leeds made a couple of errors at the start of the second half, including Lumb spilling the kick-off, but they struck first 11 minutes in. Ryan Hall cleverly ran at offside defenders from a kick, but Tom Holroyd couldn’t quite force his way over. However, the chance was eventually taken when Connor and Croft combined to find Lachie Miller whose pass was finished superbly by Hall. That was also unconverted, the kick bouncing away off the crossbar and that proved the difference in the end, Sneyd adding the extras to Warrington’s second try, scored by Ratchford after Leds had been penalised on their line.

Warrington Wolves: Dufty, Jake Thewlis, Ratchford, Currie, Lindop, Williams, Sneyd, Musgrove, Walker, Vaughan, A Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Harrison. Subs Philbin, Yates, Wood, Powell.

Leeds Rhinos: Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Lumb, Croft, Connor, Oledzki, O’Connor, Jenkins, Bentley, McDonnell, Palasia. Subs Lisone, Gannon, Sinfield, Holroyd.

Referee: Tom Grant (Leeds). Attendance: 10,523.