A 1-0 rugby league win 42 years in the making

Leigh have recorded their first victory over bitter rivals Wigan since 1983 courtesy of the first 1-0 scoreline in English rugby league’s top flight since 1979.

The Leopards smashed their 42-year winless streak against the Warriors with a thrilling golden-point field goal from Gareth O’Brien in the season opener before a crowd of 21,748 at the Brick Community Stadium. It was the first time in Super league history a match had finished 0-0 after 80 minutes.

O’Brien secured victory for his team in the second minute of golden point when Wigan were a man down after centre Adam Keighran was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle on halfback Lachlan Lam.

The Leopards had a string of former NRL players in their match-winning team on Friday morning (Sydney time), including Lam, along with back-to-back premiership-winning Rooster Isaac Liu and former Broncos and Dolphins player Tesi Niu.

For Leigh head coach Adrian Lam, the win was “surreal”.

“One thing I wanted to see from the group was to see that they were connected together and that they would be resilient – and I got that in abundance,” he said.

“I’m really happy. If Wigan had won 1-0, I would have been as happy as I am now because it’s going to take some time to develop this group and I’m looking forward to that journey.”

You’d have to go even further to find a similar scoreline in the NRL.

The only time there has been a 1-0 in top Australian rugby league was when Jack Gibson’s Newtown Jets defeated St George 1-0 in round eight in 1973.

Wigan head coach Matt Peet told BBC Radio Manchester it was a history-making match.

“I hope it’s spoken about for years to come and credit to Leigh – they didn’t come here and fluke or nick a win, they earned a win and fair play to them,” Peet said.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of play-off games and finals over the years, and it had that sort of feel about it, where you’re just waiting for a mistake or a penalty. It was a great standard to start.”