LEIGH Leopards closed the gap on Super League leaders Catalans Dragons to two points after Ben Reynolds kicked a match-winning penalty almost from the halfway line with eight minutes remaining in their 24-22 win at Salford.

The penalty capped a stunning Leopards comeback after they had trailed 22-10 with under half an hour to play.

Lachlan Lam and Zak Hardaker scored twice in a dramatic finish as Leigh recorded their first away win against Salford since 1983.

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Tries from Ken Sio, King Vuniyayawa, Andy Ackers and Ben Hellewell along with three goals from Marc Sneyd looked to have given Salford their third win over Leigh this season.

But Leigh, who face St Helens in the Challenge Cup semi-final on Saturday, showed their quality as they came back strongly to record a 12th win in their last 13 games.

Ed Chamberlain and Ricky Leutele scored first-half tries for Adrian Lam's men as Salford suffered their fifth successive defeat.

Salford were without loose forward Oliver Partington who was serving a one-match suspension for dangerous contact in last Sunday's defeat against Leeds Rhinos.

Leigh's Joe Mellor - usually a half-back - was switched to hooker after Papua New Guinea international Edwin Ipape failed to recover from an injury sustained in last week's win at Castleford.

With 11 minutes gone the Red Devils took the lead. The ball was rather messily worked to the right edge and winger Sio picked up the loose ball to score in the corner - his 99th Super League try. Sneyd was unable to add the conversion.

The visitors hit back with two tries in quick succession. The impressive John Asiata made a break towards the Salford tryline and though he was tackled just short, he was able to get a pass away to the supporting Chamberlain, who scored against his former club. Reynolds' conversion gave Leigh a 6-4 lead.

In the 21st minute, Asiata was involved again - combining with Lam, whose pass saw centre Leutele crash in at the corner. Reynolds' conversion attempt fell well short.

Salford's defence had been looking a little brittle in the face of sustained Leigh pressure but a superb 40-20 kick from Sneyd turned the tide. From the kick restart, the ball was quickly spun to the middle and prop Vuniyayawa showed great determination to reach over to score. Sneyd's conversion levelled the game at 10-10.

With two minutes of the half remaining, Salford regained the lead when hooker Ackers darted through from 10 metres out and Sneyd's conversion gave his side a 16-10 lead at the break.

Salford opened up a 12-point advantage early in the second half as a well-placed kick by Brodie Croft was grounded by Hellewell.

The danger was created when Salford's Tim Lafai intercepted a long pass from Reynolds as Leigh were attacking 20 metres from the Salford tryline. Though Leigh scrambled back in defence, they were caught short on numbers. Sneyd's goal made it 22-10.

Leigh cut the deficit to six again in the 51st minute when Lam took a great pass in the tackle from Tom Amone to scoot under the posts. Reynolds added the extras.

The scores were level again with 15 minutes remaining after Hardaker was quickest to react to a loose ball close to the Salford tryline. Reynolds' conversion tied the scores once again at 22-22.

Sneyd saw his drop goal attempt fade wide with nine minutes remaining. As Leigh rolled forward, Salford were pulled up for offside which was compounded by another penalty for dissent, giving Reynolds the chance to go for goal from almost the halfway line. Reynolds' effort sailed through to give Leigh a 24-22 lead with eight minutes remaining.