Oldham 26 Leigh Centurions 31 by Mike Hulme: THE Centurions continue to flatter to deceive as they stumble their way towards qualification for the knockout stage of the Arriva Trains National Cup.

Although they probably only need one more win to book a quarter-final place, the continuing sub-standard performances remain a major concern.

For a second successive week Leigh tried their hardest to lose a match they had already won. And it's that careless mental attitude that's become their Achilles heel and sooner or later will be their undoing unless it's cured quickly.

Oldham, smashed senseless by Salford the previous week, were on the ropes three times but Leigh couldn't find the knockout punch. Instead their careless defending let Oldham get off the canvas and almost win the contest themselves.

Indeed, Oldham outscored Leigh by five tries to four, and it was only Neil Turley's golden boot that rescued Leigh in the final analysis.

Turley may still be feeling his way back after a debilitating back injury but there's not much wrong with his right foot. He knocked over seven goals from eight shots, put over a crucial field goal, and weighed in with a try for good measure.

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ut the deja vu feeling just won't go away. In an almost mirror-image performance of their scrambled win at Rochdale the previous week, Leigh conceded some of the softest tries you're ever likely to see.

Twice defenders dallied when Oldham put kicks into Leigh's in-goal - and both times Oldham came up with tries. They also let hooker John Hough in for a trademark plunge from a ruck on the tryline and twice conceded tries after allowing a pass to come out of a tackle. All basic defensive stuff, but areas Leigh are struggling to correct.

But as Leigh point out, probably rightly, it says much about the team's character that they came still keep coming up with the wins despite under-achieving.

There are mitigating circumstances for Leigh's hit-and-miss effort. They'd lost an entire front row through injury - no Nickle, Hamilton or Bradbury - as well as having Hadcroft and Sanderson on the sidelines. Yet it was Leigh's makeshift front three of Ball, Rowley and Henare who were three of the Centurions' better performers. Rowley's efforts are all the more commendable considering he probably shouldn't have played at all because of a painful back complaint.

Although they lacked composure at times, Leigh always seemed capable of breaking down an Oldham defence that was as vulnerable as their own. What they couldn't do was put the finishing touch to some promising approach work.

Winger Michael Watts was forced into touch in goal inside the first 90 seconds but Leigh's weak tryline defence was exposed for the first time not long afterwards when hooker Hough picked up from dummy half and stretched over to give Oldham a 4-0 lead.

If Leigh's defence was a real mess at times, Oldham were equally as benevolent.

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at Weisner, back after injury, stood up Chris Morley before spinning away from the former Centurion to swoop for his first try in Leigh colours and the day before his 21st birthday. Not long afterwards Oldham were in a tangle again when Chris Irwin and Gavin Dodd were at sixes and sevens as they chased Damian Munro's hopeful punt upfield. While they were still making their minds up Weisner won possession and Bristow sent Rowley under the posts. Turley added both goals and Leigh had a handy 12-4 lead.

When Leigh conceded 80 metres from two successive penalties and then allowed Lee Doran to unload in a three-man tackle, Gareth Barber shot in for a try. Barber added the extras and then a penalty to level the match at 12-12 at half time.

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eigh were quickly out of the blocks at the start of the second half and by the 49th minute were 20-12 up. Willie Swann's low kick behind the defence forced Oldham to concede a penalty for off-side, Turley obliging from a tight angle.

Not long afterwards a piece of invention from John Duffy brought Leigh another try. The scrum-half screwed a banana kick of his right boot to drop under the bar, Turley pouncing for a six-pointer.

When Duffy was sin-binned for persistent off-side in the 56th minute, Leigh found themselves at full stretch again. They rode the storm quite well and even added to their lead with a Turley penalty.

But with just seconds left before they were back to their full compliment of 13, a long kick to the corner by Neil Roden was missed by a posse of defenders and Chris Irwin swooped for the four-pointer.

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eigh were wobbling again but probably the decisive moment came 10 minutes from time. With Oldham pressing on the Leigh line, Barber threw a long wide pass but sub Dave Alstead read the situation perfectly, intercepting and then sprint 80 metres to the posts at the other end. Turley's goal made it 28-16 and a field goal soon afterwards gave Leigh a 13 point cushion.

They needed every one of those points as another kick behind Leigh's line wasn't dealt with and Keith Brennan touched down. When Doran smuggled another pass out of a three-man tackle, Gavin Dodd swept in at the corner and Leigh's lead was down to just three points.

With the match back on a knife-edge Turley took the sting out of the game with an injury time penalty goal.

Match facts

SCORERS

Leigh - Tries: Weisner (21), Rowley (26), Turley (49), Alstead (70). Gls: Turley 7/8. Fg: Turley.

Oldham - Tries: Hough (5), Barber (34), Irwin (66), Brennan (75), Dodd (80). Gls: Barber 3/5, Svabic 0/1.

TEAMS

Leigh: Turley; Rivett, Munro, Cardoza, Watts; Weisner, Duffy; Ball, Rowley, Henare, Richardson, Bristow, Swann. Subs played: Kendrick, Holdstock, Andrews, Alstead.

Oldham: Dodd; Irwin, Anderson, Marsh, Cowell; Barber, Roden; Molloy, Hough, Shaw, Doran, Staziker, Morley. Subs played: Brennan, Svabic, McLoughlin, Norton.

Penalties conceded: Oldham 11, Leigh 14.

Handling errors: Oldham 9, Leigh 8.

Half time: 12-12.

Attendance: 1945

Referee: Ronnie Laughton (Barnsley).

Magic

rDAVE Alstead's length of the field interception try 10 minutes from time which opened up a lead Leigh were able to hang on to - just!

Man

rPRESSED into service as an emergency front rower, Bryan Henare was solid and dependable and virtually error-free. Victory over his former club will be even sweeter for him.

Moan

rTHE Centurions are still showing suicidal tendencies. It's a problem that needs addressing, and addressing quickly.