2006 Season Reports: HALIFAX 10 LEIGH CENTURIONS 32

Halifax 10
Leigh 32
By Dave Parkinson.

Leigh Centurions opened their NL1 account with a tough victory at the Shay in a game that former Halifax favourite Paul Rowley combined with Julian O’Neill and Aaron Heremaia to boss.

Rowley was back to his best; tormenting Halifax throughout the game with good distribution and clever running.

Halifax made the better start with the Centurions somewhat disrupted after Warren Stevens picked up an early neck injury. The hosts took advantage when Dominic Brambani kicked forward for halfback partner Joel Penny to collect and score. Brambani converted and Ricky Bibey then bombed a certain try before Leigh got back on level terms.

The Centurions were pressing on the Halifax line and Scott Grix scored against his hometown club touching down a kick to the posts from Aaron Heremaia. O’Neill converted and it was 6-6 after 11 minutes.

By this time ‘Fax had lost the influence of Brambani with a dead leg and Tommy Grundy put down a difficult opportunity before Dayne Neirinckx broke inside the Leigh 20’. This set the position for Penny to launch another raid and the halfback touched down following a writhing run. Surprisingly the halfback fluffed the conversion.

Within five minutes the Centurions hit the front when Paul Rowley spotted a gap at marker, shooting past three defendersin a ten metre dart for the line.

The best was to come ten minutes later after outstanding substitute Dana Wilson broke in midfield, linking with Lee Greenwood to get to the forty metre line. Rowley then blasted out of dummy half up centre-field, outpacing the entire Halifax side in a daring 60 metre attack.

As the half drew to a close, Heremaia chipped forward only to be fouled in back play. Otherwise impressive Halifax fullback Brad Attwood fumbled and Misili Manu swept up possession to romp home unopposed for his fourth try of the season from 35 metres. Once again O’Neill converted and the Centurions led 24-10 at half-time.

The second half was a scrappy affair amid some difficult weather conditions. Gary Sykes had the best opportunity to add to the score early on but his diving effort to get on the end of a Heremaia grubber was ruled out by referee Ian Smith.

James Haley then had an opportunity for the hosts, intercepting an O’Neill pass but Greenwood roared back to clatter the winger to the floor with a shuddering tackle.

Halifax continued to push the ball to the left and Tommy Grundy found himself sinbinned after it looked like James Taylor had held back a ‘Fax player.

Unfortunately the game decended into a bash-a-thon for ten minutes and scoring chances were at a premium. Andy Hobson was halted short and Haley missed a difficult opportunity in the corner. Leigh weathered the storm and looked worthy winners on the back of a strong defence well before former Centurion Dale Holdstock was dismissed for flattening Julian O’Neill after 71 minutes.

Thankfully O’Neill was able to continue and a minute later he opened the defence with a beautiful pass and Tommy Grundy ran a good line to score. The stand-off converted and made it a perfect six from six with a well struck penalty after Lee Harland was placed on report for a dangerous looking tackle on Rowley.

That made it 32-10 and the Centurions held firm in the last couple of minutes to complete their win.

Man-of-the-Match: Paul Rowley

Halifax:
1 Brad Attwood
2 James Haley
3 Andy Kirk
4 Anthony Blackwood
5 Damian Gibson
6 Dominic Brambani
7 Joel Penny
8 Andy Hobson
9 Todd O’Brien
10 Jason Boults
11 Dale Holdstock
12 Keith Heckenberg
13 Damian Ball
Subs (All Used)
14 Dayne Neirinckx
15 Lee Harland
16 Byron Smith
17 Chris Birchall

Tries: Penny (5, 19)
Goals: Brambani 1/1, Penny 0/1.

Leigh:
1 Scott Grix
2 Misili Manu
3 Tommy Grundy
4 Adam Hughes
5 Lee Greenwood
6 Julian O’Neill
7 Aaron Heremaia
8 Ricky Bibey
9 Paul Rowley
10 Warren Stevens
11 Chris Hill
12 Tere Glassie
13 James Taylor
Subs (All Used)
14 Gary Sykes
15 Carl Forber
16 Richard Moore
17 Dana Wilson

Tries: Grix (11), Rowley (24, 34), Manu (40), Grundy (72).
Goals: O’Neill 6/6.

Attendance: 2,160