LEIGH CENTURIONS 28
OLDHAM 20
DAVE PARKINSON at Leigh Sports Village
Leigh Centurions got their pre-season away to a winning start at the third attempt following a tough encounter against Oldham that had Centurions boss Neil Kelly praising the quality of the Roughyeds squad.
“Oldham have acquired a squad that wouldn’t look out of place in our division. I was really pleased to get the win, primarily.” He said.
“I think we needed it for morale. I was very pleased with some performances and felt that when we fronted up as a team, we exerted what authority we could. We were just going through the motions in the first half and I think when we started playing with more urgency and purpose, we were a lot better.”
The visitors grabbed the first try when Paul O’Connor evaded a tackle after build up passes by Coyle brothers James and Thomas who formed part of a solid midfield quartet with Simeon Hoyle and Robert Roberts. Leigh’s response came after 17 minutes when Dave McConnell put a kick behind the try line and Adam Higson pounced. Mort added the first of four goals but the Roughyeds were still in control when James Coyle found Halliwell. He slipped a Sam Reay tackle before Andrew Ballard hared over and converted.
Oldham were worthy of their lead at this stage and Lee Greenwood ran clear only to be brought back for a forward pass. The Centurions scored against the run of play when Martyn Ridyard cleverly intercepted Phil Joseph’s pass from dummy half to run 30 metres. Parity resumed when Ballard scored his second from Thomas Coyle’s clever kick following a lapse in Leigh’s discipline.
If the first half was Oldham’s, the second was Leigh’s. Ian Mort scored two minutes after the restart when Oldham lost possession deep in their own twenty but his missed conversion meant the scores were locked 16-16.
Although Higson was sinbinned for his part in a confrontation with Jamie I’Anson, the Leigh defence held firm. Ridyard later conjured a break from nothing and the Centurions forced a drop out. This pressure told on Oldham and one time Roughyed Ian Watson sent impressive Dave Armitstead over for a try by the posts. Halliwell sailed through a gap to finish from 20 metres to give Leigh a few anxious moments before Lee Marsh’s impressive cameo resulted in a try. The big substitute worked an opening near the Oldham line and just as players converged, his astute kick found Dale Cunniffe.
“I thought it was a game we should have won.” Oldham coach Tony Benson said. “It was field position and losing control of the tempo of the ruck at crucial stages that opened it up for Leigh as well as giving away silly penalties when we had built pressure. They are all things which probably come from lack of time on the field.”
GAMEBREAKER: That astute kick from Marsh that saw Cunniffe score in the corner – Leigh then had an important buffer.
GAMESTAR: Dave Armitstead just kept going and going, and going, in attack and defence.
CENTURIONS
1 Stuart Donlan
22 Jamie Smith
18 Sam Reay
3 Steve Maden
14 Ian Mort
23 Martyn Ridyard
7 Ian Watson
20 John Cookson
9 Dave McConnell
10 Mike Morrison
15 Adam Higson
12 James Taylor
11 Dave Armitstead
Subs (All used)
24 Dean Hatton
Lee Wingfield
Danny Meekin
4 Tony Stewart
21 Dale Cunniffe
16 Chris Hill
Brett Longstaff
Jamie Durbin
MacGraff Leualai
Tries: Higson (17), Ridyard (35), Mort (42), Armitstead (65), Cunniffe (74).
Goals: Mort 4/5.
Field goal:
On Report:
Sin bin: Higson (50) – high tackle
Dismissal:
OLDHAM
1 Paul O’Connor
2 Andrew Ballard
3 Danny Halliwell
Marcus St Hilaire
5 Lee Greenwood
6 James Coyle
7 Thomas Colyle
8 Jason Boults
9 Simeon Hoyle
10 Jamie I’Anson
11 Tommy Goulden
12 Dave Allen
13 Robert Roberts
SUBS (All Used)
14 Neil Roden
4 Luke Menzies
16 Gary Sykes
17 Phil Joseph
18 Chris Baines
19 Lucas Onyango
20 Wayne Kerr
Tries: O’Connor (9), Ballard (25, 39), Halliwell (70)
Goals: Ballard 2/4.
On Report:
Sin bin: (TIME) – offence
Dismissals:
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Centurions: Dave Armitstead
Oldham: Dave Allen
Penalty count: 7-10
Half-time: 12-16
Referee: Mr D Merrick
Attendance: 1,700
SCORING SEQUENCE:
0-6; 6-6; 6-12; 12-12; 12-16; 16-16; 22-16; 22-20; 28-20
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment