Red card romp

DISCIPLINE, and the lack of it, ultimately determined this top of the table showdown.

While Leigh were accused of gamesmanship by Oldham coach Steve Molloy, there's no defending his team's actions. Two blatant incidents of foul play brought two instant red cards and effectively ended the match as a contest.

Molloy accused his players of falling for a ' three card trick'. He said: "Leigh tried to knock us off our game with niggling tactics and sledging. It worked for them as two of my most experienced players failed to take it on the chin."

Whether that was the case or not, the facts are pretty conclusive. Before Dane Morgan got the first red card for an off-the-ball punch on Simon Knox, Leigh were only just ahead 12-8 and a tight game was on the cards.

Instead what we got was a one-sided stroll that probably restored Leigh's standing as the bookies' favourites for promotion.

Even though he'd seen his side move up through the pack and into third spot in the table, coach Darren Abram was far from satisfied.

"We let in too many soft points," he complained. "At times we played like St Helens...at others like a conference side. We need to strive to be more consistent over a full 80 minutes.

"The one thing that gave me most satisfaction was they way we kept our discipline. We had to take a few cheap shots out there but the lads responded in the right way. There is a disciplinary line you can go up to, but don't cross."

Two more plus points for Abram were the returns of Richard Marshall and Willie Swann after long injury lay-offs.

Marshall came back after nine weeks off with a badly broken thumb to give an encouraging front row performance while Swann, making his first senior appearance of the season since ankle surgery, set up two tries and scored one himself.

Although Leigh won at a canter in the end, the first quarter was fiercely contested and there was nothing between the sides.

Leigh made the ideal start when Tommy Martyn forced a goal-line drop out at the end of the first set of six. When Oliver Wilkes made ground up the middle seconds later, John Duffy was on hand to shake off Ian Watson's weak tackle to go in for the first 10 tries and give Neil Turley the first of 10 goals.

When Oldham crept into an 8-6 lead thanks to a Nick Johnson try and two Pat Rich goals it was no more than they deserved but by that time Leigh had had two more tries scrubbed off by referee Colin Morris. Ian Knott was ruled off side from a Duffy bomb to the corner and Martyn another disallowed for a forward pass after he and Turley had gone the length of the field.

Quick thinking from Paul Rowley put Leigh back in front. His tap penalty at the foot of the posts gave Marshall the opportunity to burrow his way over from close range.

Morgan's 26th minute dismissal had little immediate effect as Rich missed two kickable penalties in quick succession which would have put Oldham level.

But Leigh finished the half with a flourish. Dan Potter ran into a hole created by Knott's excellent pass and the supporting Turley finished easily. In stoppage time Leigh came from their own line in five tackles before Martyn threw an outside dummy and cut back inside to the posts for a 24-8 lead.

Johnson cut Leigh's lead with his second try in the 46th minute but another burst of tries saw the Centurions open up a 30 point cushion.

Leigh worked a training ground move for Knott to get outside the Oldham defence to send Duffy unchallenged to the posts for the first of three tries in a five minute spell.

A slick crossfield move from right to left ended with Swann sending Chris Percival through and round to the posts. Moments later the same combination saw Swann bump off a couple of defenders and Percival went through Gavin Dodd's attempted tackle to collect his 12th of the season.

With a lead of 42-12 Leigh had one of those careless spells that infuriated Abram. Twice in a matter of minutes they let Craig Farrimond and Phil Farrell in for soft tries to close the gap to 42-20.

But sandwiching the tries, Oldham found themselves down to 11 men when Watson head-butted Rowley in retaliation to something that happened in a tackle. Again Mr Morris was left with little option but to reach for the red card.

With acres of space in which to work, Leigh finished with three more tries in the last five minutes.

Martyn's perfectly timed pass gave Swann the chance to sprint 30 metres to the posts; a Heath Cruckshank break helped set up a try for Radney Bowker and on the back of a monster 40/20 from Martyn, Steve Maden galloped in at the corner.

Scorers - Leigh: Tries - Duffy (2, 51); Percival (54, 56); Marshall (24); Turley (38); Martyn (40); Swann (75); Bowker (78); Maden (80). Gls: Turley 10/10.

Oldham: Tries - Johnson (8, 46); Farrimond (58); Farrell (69). Gls: Rich 2/7.

Oldham: Dodd; Cowell, Marsh, Rich, Johnson; Svabic, Watson; Molloy, Brennan, McLoughlin; Doran, Morgan, Farrell. Subs (all used); Barber, Farrimond, Elswood, Sharples.

Leigh: Turley; Maden, Potter, Percival, Halliwell; Duffy, Martyn; Marshall, Rowley, Wilkes, Larder, Bowker, Knott. Subs (all used): Swann, McConnell, Knox, Cruckshank.

Penalties conceded: Leigh 11, Oldham 6.

Handling errors: Leigh 7, Oldham 8.

Sent off: Morgan (Oldham) - striking; Watson (Oldham) head butt.

Referee: Colin Morris (Huddersfield).

Attendance: 2104.

Man

rNOT a classic Leigh performance by any stretch of the imagination but skipper Ian Knott was usually at the hub of all the good things they did.

Magic

rDUFFY'S second try. It clearly came from well-rehearsed move featuring Knott and gave the players obvious pleasure when it worked like a charm.

Moan

rOLDHAM'S illdiscipline which turned an evenly-match contest into a one-sided rout.