Sivo hat-trick sinks Wakefield to keep Leeds top

Maika Sivo had an eventful night at Headingley, scoring a hat-trick and getting 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Maika Sivo scored his fourth Super League hat-trick of the season to see off Wakefield Trinity's persistent challenge and ensure Leeds Rhinos remain top of the table in the 10th round of Super League. The Fiji international has had a phenomenal start to the campaign, chalking up 19 tries in 10 games in all competitions, and his finishing power was needed against a Trinity side which refused to lie down.

Aided by the sin-binning of Sivo and Ash Handley, Wakefield fought back after two from Sivo and another from Kallum Watkins had Leeds seemingly coasting at 20-6 up. Tray Lolesio and Jayden Myers got Daryl Powell's team to within four points, but Brodie Croft's two tries, yet another from Sivo and Jake Connor's reliable boot kept Leeds noses in front. This was a meeting of the competition's top scorers - Leeds had scored 102 points in their previous two games - and meanest defence, with Wakefield conceding fewer points than anyone else in the opening nine rounds.

That record was quickly under threat as Connor's early penalty set the tone and after Trinity's Cam Scott had been stretchered off and taken to hospital after a head clash, Sivo benefited from astonishingly quick hands from Handley to score the first try. The Rhinos were brimming with confidence and flair, and Connor's no-look pass sent Watkins slicing through the defensive cover to make it 14-0. Oliver Pratt finally got Wakefield in the game with his 11th Super League try of the season, but Leeds were irrepressible in the first half and Lachie Miller sent Sivo away for his second try to restore the 14-point lead.

The momentum shifted just before the break as Sivo received his yellow card for a high tackle on Josh Rourke, and big Kiwi front rower Lolesio powered over the line for his first Wakefield try to bring fresh hope to the travelling fans. Connor added a penalty early in the second half to give Leeds breathing space, but just before Sivo returned to the field Leeds lost another man as Handley was adjudged to have pushed Rourke as the two men raced after a kick into in-goal. Again Trinity made use of the extra man as 23-year-old winger Myers finished brilliantly in the corner and Mason Lino's conversion slashed the lead to four.