Leeds restore lost pride in style

Leeds responded to their critics with a convincing 48-16 demolition of Salford at The Willows. The Rhinos, stung after Monday's home defeat by Widnes, rang the changes and upped the tempo to overpower the Reds by eight tries to three.

The visitors took charge with three tries in the opening 20 minutes before a second-half hat-trick from Mark Calderwood secured the points.

The Leeds coach, Daryl Powell, said: "I am pretty happy with the way the players responded. We could have been top the way things have gone.

"We had a close defeat at St Helens and would have beaten Widnes if we'd taken our chances," he added. "We played some good quality stuff and we are starting to play with a smile on our faces."

Leeds, showing five changes, began like a team determined to put things right. Salford initially matched their enthusiasm. But once Ben Walker had knocked over a routine penalty in the sixth minute, the traffic was mostly one-way.

The London Broncos narrowly beat the Wakefield Wildcats 26-25 in a game that failed to reach the heights promised in an eventful first half. Both sides seemed to wilt in the heat and Wakefield's defence struggled to control Broncos' increasingly cavalier approach with the ball.

Wakefield Wildcats coach, Peter Roe, said: "I'm absolutely devastated – 13-0 up and it appears some of our players looked at the scoreboard and decided 'we'd like a nice cup of tea and a nice chat'.

"Unfortunately that wasn't the case. We clocked off, stopped playing and they came back at us"

Mat Toshack put London ahead for the first time two minutes into the second half with the third team try, goaled by Tony Martin.

David March and Martyn Holland crossed to put Wildcats back in front, but just after the hour scrum-half Dennis Moran touched down again for the visitors. And with Martin again converting, the Broncos were back on front.

London had a nervous final few minutes after Ben Westwood crossed for his side's fifth try, but three goal misses by Wakefield's Graham Law ultimately gave London the breathing space they needed to hold out for a slender, hard-earned victory.