2008 Season Reports: FEATHERSTONE 8 LEIGH 26

FEATHERSTONE ROVERS 8 LEIGH CENTURIONS 26
By Dave Parkinson

Leigh Centurions made it three wins out of four under Neil Kelly with a thoroughly deserved and ultimately resounding victory at Featherstone.

With both Rovers and the Centurions targeting this game as a springboard to the top six, the initial exchanges were enthusiastic and Ian Watson was unlucky not to strike a 40-20 from the first set. At the other end, loose hands from Dave McConnell saw Tommy Haughey and Andy Kirk bare down on a grounded pass and it took an intervention from the boot of Dave Alstead to save four points.

Rovers launched a further attack and Leigh were caught offside. This allowed Stuart Dickens to land a penalty against the stiff breeze and Featherstone led 2-0.

Within five minutes, Leigh hit the front when returning centre Toa Kohe-Love took Ian Watson’s pass on the right, dummied his winger and touched down. The difficult conditions played havoc with goal kicking and Watson was wide with his attempt.

After twelve minutes Rovers were deep inside the Leigh twenty metre area when Gareth Price caught Haughey high in full view of the referee. A yellow card was produced for the Welsh international but a combination of Rovers frittering chances away and committed defence kept Featherstone scoreless.

During that ten minutes, Leigh had the best chance to increase their lead when Lee Marsh was adjudged to be held on his back over the line.

Another golden opportunity followed after 24 minutes when Ian Mort split the Rovers defence from a Chris Hill offload before being overhauled close to the try line. By this stage the Centurions were playing some promising stuff and another Mort break, this time from Watson’s distribution, should have brought points but Tony Stewart was tackled high.

Eventually, following three penalties in a row, Leigh took advantage when Kohe-Love slipping a pass for Lee Marsh and he somehow grounded the ball over the try line despite a mass of bodies. Home skipper Dickens then said something out of turn and the second yellow car of the game was produced.

Although it took the Centurions six minutes to prove their advantage, it was worth the wait. McConnell and Watson zipped the ball to Tom Woodcock and the Reserve top try scorer turned provider with a peach of an offload inside for Watson to skip over. Again Watson was unable to convert but Leigh moved to the break with a 12-2 advantage.

Featherstone made a promising start to the new half with an inventive chip by Paul Handforth but the Irish international then undid all his good work with a high tackle on Mort that was as clumsy as it was cynical.

The Centurions again took control and when John Cookson drove the ball to within inches of the line, the McConnell and Watson combination came up trumps again with Woodcock stepping past Handforth and into the opening. Marsh was handed kicking responsibilities but the wind caught hold of his conversion attempt and the scoreline remained in Leigh’s favour by 16-2.

By the time the Centurions fifth try came, Leigh were dominating every facet of the game and this new found confidence brought plenty of metres for Stewart and Woodcock. Hill then powered his way forward before a delightful pass from the back of his hand released the outstanding Aaron Smith and he crossed for his fourth try of the season after 51 minutes. This time Marsh converted with the help of an upright and the game was as good as over.

In the game between the teams at Hilton Park, Featherstone rallied back from a 28-4 deficit and there was a chance of history repeating, especially when centre Nathan Batty ran fifty metres and then Tony Tonks bulldozed through for a typical prop forward effort on 62 minutes. Dickens struck the conversion before Ian Mort spilled a kick downfield.

Thankfully the Centurions defence was on the ball and even a sprightly break down the right from Scott Hutton came to nought when Smith put him under pressure and the offload was spilled by Haughey eleven minutes from the end.

That was Rovers last chance and in the final ten minutes, Leigh again took control with Mike Morrison, Lee Doran and skipper James Taylor leading their forward charges. After good field position had been established, the Centurions moved into scoring groove with Watson and Marsh initially taking play to the right before Kohe-Love moved back to the centre. His offload found McConnell and he hurled a long pass for Woodcock to draw the defender and send Taylor diving in for Leigh’s sixth and final try that again went unconverted.

Game Stats:

Featherstone: Wildbore, Pryce, Kirk, Batty, Hutton; Kain, Handforth; Tonks, McLocklan, Dickens, Hesketh, Blakeway, Haughey.

Replacements: Hughes, Richardson, Houston, Massey

Try: Tonks.
Goals: Dickens 2/2.
Sin-bin: Dickens (30 – backchat to referee)

Leigh: Mort, Alstead, Woodcock, Kohe-Love, Maden; Marsh, Watson; Morrison, McConnell, Price, Taylor, Doran, Smith.

Replacements: Higson, Stewart, Hill, Cookson.

Tries: Kohe-Love, Marsh, Watson, Woodcock, Smith, Taylor.
Goals: Marsh 1/3, Watson 0/3.
Sin-bin: Price (12 – high tackle on Haughey)

Referee: Mr M Dawber
Penalties: 13-6 to Rovers.
Attendance: 1000 approx.

Man-of-the-Match: On a day when the team worked as a unit there were several stand-outs with Lee Marsh forming a good partnership at halfback with the busy Ian Watson and skipper James Taylor getting through a ton of work along with Lee Doran. Dave McConnell had a superb final hour but Aaron Smith was outstanding in defence and his try was the icing on the cake.

Moan-of-the-Match: Referee Mr Dawber gave a couple of baffling scrums the way of Featherstone and the 19 penalties he blew for resulted in another big count against the Centurions.