DEWSBURY RAMS 31 LEIGH CENTURIONS 16
By Dave Parkinson.
Dewsbury put their recent poor form behind them to register a first victory of the season in the Northern Ford Premiership.
Playing with a strong breeze in the first half, Dewsbury's tactical game saw the Rams play much of the opening forty minutes at Leigh’s end of the field. Rams scrum-half Barry Eaton was a major architect with 2 excellent 40-20 kicks.
The blustery conditions and driving rain made the visitors task even more difficult as Dewsbury piled on the pressure to take a 25-4 lead at halftime.
Dewsbury opened the scoring after just 10 minutes when Paul Evans broke a Phil Kendrick attempted tackle for a converted try way out on the left.
Leigh hit back within moments when Keiron Purtill worked a move with Tim Street from a scrum that scattered the Rams defence. The Centurions then worked the ball wide for Alan Hadcroft to blast over. Kendrick missed the conversion.
After this score the Centurions pattern became disrupted when both Dave Ingram and Chris Parr left the field with injuries.
On 21 minutes a deft kick from Eaton caught Kendrick unaware on his wing and the speedy Alex Godfrey swooped before combining with opposite winger Adrian Flynn and the ex-Wakefield back scored.
Two more converted tries followed from Nathan Graham before Richard Agar potted a drop goal to complete first half scoring.
Between the Dewsbury scores a possible Leigh try was wiped out by the referee Mr Gilmour, who opted not to allow play from a knock-on to continue and instead awarded the Centurions a scrum.
The second half saw a marked drop in the breeze and Leigh tried hard to work their way back into the game.
Scott Hilton made a welcome return to the first team and within moments of his introduction latched onto a pass to sweep under the posts following another elusive run from the outstanding Anthony Murray.
Leigh's persistence finally paid off when Andy Fairclough checked 2 tackles and dove in at the corner. Kendrick's spectacular touchline conversion then raised hopes of an upset victory
Dewsbury held their line and had enough time to add another try in the final minute when Paul Medley crashed over. Barry Eaton completed and capped a good personal performance with his 5th conversion.
TEAMS:
Dewsbury:
Graham, Flynn, Williams, Evans, Godfrey, Agar, Eaton, Boothroyd, Delaney, Rose, Kershaw, Cain, Ball.
SUBS: Cochrane, Medley, Hicks, Long.
Tries: Graham 2, Evans, Flynn, Medley.
Goals: Eaton 5
Field Goal: Agar
Leigh
Donlan, Arkwright, Kendrick, Hadcroft, Ingram, Patel, K Purtill, Street, Murray, Whittle, Parr, Liku, Fairclough.
SUBS: Costello, Jenkins, C Wingfield, Hilton.
Tries: Hadcroft, Hilton, Fairclough.
Goals: Kendrick 2
Attendance: 1314.
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