Vulnerable Centurions still have a lot to prove

The Centurions coach squirmed in his seat as he saw Leigh almost snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for a second West Group game in succession.

Not for the first time this season the Centurions' suspect defence took the brunt of the blame as Leigh twice threw away handy leads to almost lose it at the death.

If Leigh's wobbly defence was at its infuriating worst, then Rochdale's wasn't much to write home about either. Both sides conceded such soft tries that it was almost like watching Sevens with it's tit-for-tat scoring pattern.

The one comforting thought Leigh took away with them was that they have massive improvement left in them - a point not lost on Terzis.

"I'm the first to admit that our performance wasn't of the standard we expect or demand and all the players have admitted that themselves," Terzis conceded.

"Rochdale were very enthusiastic and played very well at times but that doesn't excuse they way we defended. That's not acceptable to us. We are as upset as the fans by that downside to our game and it's an area we are working hard to address.

"The good thing is that I know and believe that this team has stacks of improvement left in it. It's up to use, coaches and players, to reach that potential as quickly as possible."

Despite the clear shortcomings, Leigh remain unbeaten in the competition and head the West Group with nine points from a possible 10. Another two wins from their five remaining qualifying games should see them through to the knockout stages later in the season.

After falling behind to the first of Paul Owen's try hat-trick in the ninth minute, Leigh were never behind again in a match in which the teams shared a dozen tries. In the final shake-up it was Neil Turley's accurate kicking that proved the difference, the fit again full-back landing five from six while Hornets' Ian Watson only managed four from seven.

Props Sonny Nickle and Dave Bradbury both had big games - they needed to with ex-Leigh pair Andy Grundy and Gareth Price ripping into the defensive line with gusto.

Paul Rowley won his personal dual with Richard Pachniuck hands down and weighed in with a couple of tries to boot while skipper Adam Bristow had a calming hand on the rudder, coming up with a poacher's try and a top class assist for another.

Scrum-half John Duffy was a major threat in the first half and from his long midfield break Leigh had the position from where the alert Rowley was able to scamper in from dummy half to give Turley an easy goal to make it 6-6.

Two minutes later Leigh showed that on their day they are capable of striking from anywhere. A gang tackle on Marlon Billy forced the Hornets winger into spilling the ball; Bristow was on to it in a flash and his pass sent top scorer Damian Munro striding 60 metres to the line for a 10-6 lead.

The tone of the game had been set, however, with both teams trading try for try.

Hornets caught Leigh's right-hand defence out with a couple of long passes and Billy got on the outside of Leroy Rivett to crash in at the corner for the leveller.

Right on the stroke of half time Leigh regained the lead when Phil Kendrick dumped an overhead pass away for Munro to get winger Rivett in out wide, Turley adding the extras from a difficult position.

Hornets were quickly out of the blocks at the start of the second half, forcing Leigh to defend three successive sets. Ex-Leigh centre Jon Roper and Matty Long were both held up over the line and the Centurions were thankful to only concede two points from a Watson penalty.

Leigh looked to have ridden the storm and when they went into a 22-12 lead, the match was there for the taking. After Munro had a try disallowed on the intervention of a touchjudge, Bristow cheekily robbed Watson as he prepared to put in a clearing kick and strolled unchallenged to the posts.

Rochdale's response was to ask Leigh's defence more questions. sadly, Leigh couldn't come with the the answers as full-back Owen nipped over for tries twice in three minutes to level it up at 22-22.

With the game back in the balance, Sean Richardson exploded through a gap down the middle and was spoiled for choice with his support runners. Eventually he picked up Rowley on his inside the hooker darted in for his second.

Leigh still couldn't kill the game off and it was back on a knife-edge when Mick Nanyn got outside Rivett for a try in the corner to make it 28-26.

A minute from time Leigh breathed a little easier when Bristow produced a magical pick-up off his bootlaces to send Lee Sanderson under the posts.

Right at the death the gap was again closed to two points when Leigh's habit of conceding possession from a re-start cost them another try, Hornets winger Casey Mayberry zipping clean through direct from a scrum.

SCORERS

Leigh: Tries - Rowley (12, 71), Munro (15), Rivett (39), Bristow (54), Sanderson (79). Goals: Turley 5/6.

Rochdale: Tries - Owen (9, 59, 62), Billy (33), Nanyn (75), Mayberry (80).

Goals: Watson 4/7.

TEAMS

Leigh: Turley; Rivett, Munro, Cardoza, Hadcroft; Swann, Duffy; Nickle, Rowley, Bradbury, Richardson, Henare, Bristow. Subs used: Kendrick, Watts, Sanderson, Ball.

Rochdale: Owen; Mayberry, Bunyan, Roper, Billy; Ayres, Watson; Grundy, Pachniuck, Price, Larder, Leigh, Smith. Subs used: Ball, Southern, Nanyn, Long.

Penalties conceded: Leigh 5, Rochdale 4.

Handling errors: Leigh 9, Rochdale 10.

Referee: Colin Morris (Huddersfield)

Attendance: 1251.

Moan

rTIME to get the tackle bags out again boys. Leigh's wobbly defence is a now a major cause for concern.

Magic

rDAMIAN Munro's first half try. It was a perfect example of how Leigh are capable of springing from defence to attack.

Man

rSTRONG contenders such as Nickle, Bradbury, Bristow and Duffy but for all-round quality it's got to be two-try Rowley who hardly put a foot wrong.