Keighley Cougars 32 - 16 Centurions
Crisis club Keighley Cougars eased their worries with their first league win of the campaign. Defeat kept Leigh rooted to the foot of the table. This game marked the start of Lee Crooks managerial career. The former Great-Britain forward was happy with the efforts of his charges.
A full blooded but never dirty encounter saw two players put on report and a third sin- binned.
The Cougars adopted better tactics from the outset. Playing against the wind in the first half, Keighley kept Leigh pinned in their own quarter and forced the centurions into error ridden football.
Leigh made a customary slow start upon which Ramshaw capitalised to send Chris Robinson over after just three minutes. Leigh responded when Jason O'Loughlin converted a penalty following a high tackle on Tim Street.
Welsh international Jason Lee increased cougars' lead on 13 minutes when he skipped around Barry Burgess from a Walsh off-load.
Four minutes later Leigh got their first try when Ingram's clever kick to the posts was touched down by Hudspith, O'Loughlin conveted and Leigh were in with a chance.
The centurions hung on grimly as Keighley applied pressure. Last ditch tackling defied the cougars. Leigh also had chances. Quick breaks were made from the scrum by Donlan and Hadcroft only for the movements be brought back. Hudspith also had a touchdown disallowed for a forward pass following a 35-metre burst by Murray.
It was Keighley skipper Ramshaw who broke the deadlock three minutes from the break, twisting past three players for a try on the last tackle. O'Loughlin pegged cougars' lead to 10-16 with the final kick of the half, a sweetly struck penalty from 30- metres.
Matt Foster was a problem for the Centurions throughout, and there was little surprise when he added a fourth Cougar try five minutes into the new half.
Keighley continued to dominate territory and Leigh were fortunate when Ramshaw's dropped pass was hacked into the grateful hands of John Costello. Costello showed a good turn of speed to sprint 30 metres to the line. Murray potted the conversion and at 22-16 the centurions were still in the game.
Just past the hour, centurion victory hopes vanished when Neil Jenkins was sin-binned for holding down. Robinson kicked the penalty and Keighley led by eight points.
Decisive play from Keighley put the result beyond doubt when good approach work created the opening for Larder to crash over. Robinson couldn't convert but 28-16 meant Leigh had to score twice.
Time was against the centurions as they tried to play a more expansive game. Anthony Murray, again at the hub of everything, was placed on report for a suspect tackle on impressive cougar Fred Sapatu. From the penalty, Keighley moved 50-metres upfield and scored their final try when Kirk spotted the smallest of holes and plunged over from five metres, confirming a 32-16 win.
On the day Leigh were defeated by a better team performance that included outstanding contributions from Foster and Ramshaw. Keighley made fewer mistakes while Leigh failed to close the cougars down and a poor kick-defensive game proved costly.
There were pluses in this Leigh performance. With more concentration they could have claimed six tries. Tim Street showed signs of returning to form, John Costello again proved his worth, while Andy Fairclough put in a mammoth defensive stint.
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