Oldham 12 Leigh Centurions 10 by Mike Hulme: LEIGH Centurions' 100 per cent start to the National League One season was wrecked by lowly Oldham who pulled off a shock win at Boundary Park.

The defeat, Leigh's first in five games, was a huge blow to the Centurions who had hoped to open up a commanding lead at the top of the table.

Oldham, hammered by 50 points at Doncaster the previous week, showed a remarkable transformation and their scrambling defence kept Leigh out until deep into the second half.

The tone was set early on when Oldham skipper Phil Farrell had two tries disallowed for off side in the opening minutes.

Leigh suffered from a lack of possession and spent almost the entire first half deep in their own territory. Ex-Leigh stand-off Simon Svabic put over two penalties to give Oldham a 4-0 lead and four minutes from the break a fumble by Dale Cardoza handed Oldham possession from where they got winger Gavin Dodd in for a Svabic converted try and a 10-0 lead.

Leigh upped their game in the second half but found it difficult to break Oldham down.

The home side stretched their lead to 12-0 with another penalty from Svabic after Cardoza had been put on report for a head shot on Oldham sub Gareth Barber.

Leigh staged a fightback in the final quarter after Pat Weisner had a try disallowed for a double movement.

Fifteen minutes from time Leigh finally got their first points on the board when Phil Kendrick's loose pass was snapped up by Leroy Rivett for the winger the scramble over in the corner. Weisner's touchline conversion halved the deficit.

When Leigh produced a set-piece move from a scrum, Cardoza swept through to touchdown to get his side to within a couple of points.

Leigh tried everything they could to make the breakthrough but when Adam Bristow and Kendrick made strong breaks, the support wasn't there.

Oldham rode their luck, defending doggedly to successfully protect their two point winning margin.