LEIGH East have given up the fight - accepted that they are favourites for the drop and resigned themselves to First Division rugby next season.

Or so it would appear from Saturday's dismal 28-18 defeat against Siddal.

It was only in the last half hour or so when East, spurred on by increased aggression from Siddal, upped a gear and began to play some productive attacking rugby.

But it was too late, the damage already being done in a first half which saw the home side coast into a 20-0 lead whilst barely being threatened by East's woefully uninspired and non-existent attack.

Defensive and handling errors and too many penalties - some real, some imagined by the referee - created an uphill battle for East from the start. And with Danny Kilshaw nursing a neck injury and Lee Wingfield the target for some ungentlemanly play, East had two key players unable to make their usual massive contribution.

Gary Fletcher was fearless in East's front row, Gareth Jones and Paul Braterski worked hard but overall this was a poor performance with too much one man rugby and not enough involvement of the side's match winners. More importantly the defeat cost East the chance of winning their game in hand over West Hull and the opportunity of a morale boosting start to the final run in to the end of the season.

Kilshaw struggled with his neck injury but was still on hand to collect a kick and leave the defence flat footed for a fine individual try 10 minutes into the second half, Woods goaling to make it 20-6. Siddal increased their lead to 26-6 five minutes later but on 64 minutes Kilshaw was on hand again with a break which ended with Carl Redford scoring on his debut, Woods again adding the goal.

Ten minutes later Woods closed the gap further with his try and goal making it 26-18 but East were unable to add to their score and it was Siddal who wrapped up the scoring with a late penalty goal.

There is no doubt that Siddal were the better side but there was no reason why East, playing to their strengths, could not have won this game. There is still a chance for them to survive in the Premier Division but that old fighting spirit, the pride and the commitment will have to be drawn on in great force if they are to avoid the drop.