Seconds' fine run goes on

Burnley took the lead in the first couple of minutes with a well taken penalty after second row Lester was penalised for a high tackle. Unfortunately for Burnley their prop forward could not continue.

Leigh picked up the pace with good surging runs from props King and Losty with good support from Cleary. From the resulting ruck centre Harrison fed the oncoming Webster who steamrollered his way over for his first try for the club. Sale converted to make the score 3-7 in Leigh's favour.

Untidy play from the back of the scrum put the Leigh half backs under pressure. From the resulting maul and after a very dubious forward pass the Burnley winger scored in the corner to take them into the lead 8-7 after 20 minutes.

Leigh decided enough was enough and decided to take the game by the scruff of the neck. In the next 15 minutes Leigh played some wonderful flowing rugby with the forwards and backs combining brilliantly to score three marvellous tries.

Prop King broke free from a maul in his own 22 and fed hooker Jibson who went on a 50 yard weaving run dummying then committing the whole of the Burnley backline before slipping an inside pass to the oncoming centre O'Neill who easily wrong footed the full back to score undoubtedly the try of the game under the posts. Sale converted to make the score 14-7.

With Leigh on top, wingers Baines and Mangnall both went close. Only desperate cover tackling stopped them in their tracks. O'Neill was soon to be on the scoresheet again after a delicately placed chip from fly half Sale eluded both the Burnley full back and Leigh centre Harrison only for O'Neill to pounce and score wide out.

Leigh completed their purple patch when Sale fed centre Harrison who crashed under the posts for another try after good work from Davies and Travers. Sale converted to make the half time score a comfortable 26-7.

With the game won, Leigh took their foot off the pedal much to the annoyance of the Leigh player-coach Mckenna. Their discipline was poor even though the referee's decision making was somewhat dubious.

The only scoring in a disappointing second half was by Burnley who scored a converted try late on. Bad decision making let the Leigh side down in what became a very lacklustre second half performance.

Macclesfield 4th 28 Leigh 3rd 25

Due to injury and sickness, Leigh took a depleted side to fellow promotion hopefuls Macclesfield hoping to avenge a home defeat earlier this season. Leigh struggled to contain Macclesfield in the early encounters, conceding three unconverted tries to a much more organised side.

As the game progressed, the Hawks took advantage of any errors and worked hard to gain territory. Debutant Jason Carson was bundled into touch five yards short of the corner and fellow debutant Alex Cain was adjudged to have been held up when a certain try looked on the cards.

Macclesfield continued to punish Leigh's poor early handling - full-back Davies saving a try after an inception in Macclesfield's 22 led to an 80 yard sprint to the line. Greenwood reduced the deficient by three points with a penalty and then later became provider with an inch perfect pass which cut the defence in half leaving Krause free to score an easy try. Greenwood converted bring the score to 15 -10 at half time.

Leigh applied the early pressure which was rewarded again with a Greenwood penalty. The Leigh backs were now getting the ball in the right areas with R.Houghton, J.Krause and J.Carson making significant breaks. Macclesfield rallied and scored from a tap-penalty - Leigh's defence unable to cope with the shear weight of Macclesfield's forwards.

Leigh were then reduced to 14, Cain, undeservedly sent off in a brawling incident which involved 15-20 players - the resulting penalty converted by the Macclesfield kicker.

Leigh fought back spurred on by the strong running Erkskine. He picked the ball up and barged his way through on the blind-side for an unconverted try. Further pressure from Leigh forced Macclesfield into handling errors within their own 22. From the resulting scrum, Leigh were able to pass the ball through hands for Krause to score his second try. Greenwood slotted the conversion and for the first time Leigh were in front, 25-23. With minutes on the clock, Leigh were happy to soak up the Macclesfield attack and run the clock down.

Unsurprisingly the referee was happy to play ample stoppage time which saw Macclesfield grasp a last-second unconverted try to secure an undeserved victory.

West Park U16s 24 Leigh 28

Leigh found themselves down by 12 points within the first 10 minutes and could have easily crumbled under the West Park pressure.

However the Leigh forwards had different ideas and took control of the ball. A strong surging drive up the field saw Andrew Clamp go over for the first Leigh try. During the next 15 minutes the forward domination paid dividends as Michael Reynolds scored Leigh's second try for Leigh to go ahead 14-12.

From the restart West Park pressurised Leigh with some good back play and scored in the corner to go ahead 19-14. The Leigh team would not lie down and with good communication and back-up between themselves drove Jonathan Hurst over the line to score Leigh's third try. Almost immediately from the re-start Jonathan Carroll took control of the ball and scored Leigh's fourth try.

The last 15 minutes saw the Leigh backs tackle solidly with some big hits going in and were unlucky to concede a try in the dying seconds. Andrew Clamp converted all four tries.

Leigh U 15s 13 West Park10

This was a classic Lancashire cup-tie in which both teams were a credit to their clubs.

Park took the lead on two minutes when their winger scored in the corner. This was Leigh's wake-up call and the forwards began to dominate the much bigger opposition. Leigh let themselves down with poor handling, with the line at their mercy. Park's back-up play was causing some problems and they increased their lead. As half-time approached Hargreaves forced his way over.

The second half mirrored the first, but fine handling along the backs gave Taylor the opportunity to score in the corner. Leigh were awarded a penalty which Pendlebury converted and Leigh then hung on for a great victory as Park pressured in the final minutes.

Lymm U14s 88 Leigh 3

Leigh travelled to play Lymm in knowing that they had lost by nearly 100 points last season against one of the strongest teams in Cheshire.

Leigh kicked off and were soon under pressure from a well drilled Lymm team, who moved the ball well to be rewarded with some early scores. Lymm soon built up an unassailable lead, but to fair to Leigh all the players gave 100% as individuals, it was as a team they came unstuck.

The second half continued as the first had finished with Lymm extending their lead. Leigh would not give up though and were unlucky as first Roberts and then Riley were held up over the line, but they would not be denied a score further pressure resulted in a penalty which Jordan Davis scored.

Sedgley Park U13s 5 Leigh 26

With a semi-final place in the Lancashire Cup in the offering, yet with only 14 fit players, Leigh needed a win from this game to sustain their excellent form in the Lancashire Cup.

Early play was nip and tuck, with both sides applying pressure. Despite being a man down in the pack Leigh's forwards were magnificent throughout, consistently winning early ball for the back row. It was good to see both wingers getting tries.

Three tries in the first half from Chris Govin, Jordan Monks and Gareth Davies, with two conversions from David Taylor, against one unconverted try from Sedgley took the score to 19-5 at half time. Jonathan Grimshaw took a well deserved try in the second half, again converted by David Taylor.

Leigh U10s 60 Rochdale10

The Leigh forwards put on their best display of the season so far, setting up some fantastic rucks and mauls led well by O'Neill, Moorfield and Parr, keeping a plucky Rochdale side on the back foot for most of the match.

Rochdale tackled well and never let their heads go down, but the constant pressure and good backing up by Leigh took its toll on them.

The backs played their usual pass and move game with some great runs from all the backs in particular Richard Thorpe, who showed Rochdale a clean pair of studs every time he received the ball. Put all this together and it was a near perfect team performance. Credit must go to Rochdale for giving their all against a very good Leigh display.

Tries from Sam Peet 3, Thomas Lloyd 2, Matthew Unsworth 2, Patrick Paine 2, Charlotte Ranson, Jonathan Tipper and Jacob Browning. Player of the Match was Sarah Thorpe and Top Tackler was Charlotte Ranson.

Leigh U8s 60 Rochdale 55

Leigh's under strength Under 8's had to play good rugby to beat a very well organised Rochdale outfit.

Defensively Mcloughlin, for the second week running, saved the game for Leigh, Probing runs came from Jones,Roddy and Gannon complimented by Modlinsky,Thorpe and Smith. There were also good all round performances from new boy Hampson, Whittingham and Hewitson. Top Tagger was Mcloughlin, Top Try Scorer Gannon and Man of the Match Gannon.

Leigh U7s 50 Rochdale 35

Leigh's youngsters were boosted by the return of Jacob Gannon who, playing in his first game after breaking his arm in the summer, showed he had not lost any of his skills scoring five tries and being second in the tackle count.

Roddy, Mcloughlin, Hewitson and Jones were excellent in defence. There were strong performances from Whittingham, Smith, Thorpe, McKerchar and Ward. Newcomer Hutchinson showed great potential providing a man of the match performance. Top Tagger was Roddy, Top Try Scorer Gannon and Man of the Match Hutchinson.