Castleford Tigers 36, Leigh Centurions 12 by Mike Hulme

IF Saturday's second half evidence is anything to go by, the Centurions would be capable of acquitting themselves well should they ever gain a place in Super League.

They certainly earned their stripes against the Tigers.

Leigh were given a standing ovation by a sparse crowd at the Jungle and were roundly praised by Tigers coach Graham Steadman after making a game of it in Saturday's friendly.

Leigh were on course for a heavy defeat when they went in at half time trailing 26-6. But as the weather deteriorated, Leigh got better and better. They led the second half 6-4 right until the closing minutes when the Tigers went in for their final try.

"Full credit to Leigh," said Steadman. "They recovered from a poor start and made us work hard in the second half. If they had turned out a full side, they could have caused us even more problems."

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teadman paid Leigh the compliment of turning out a near full strength side with only Aussie trio Mitch Healy, Paul Mellor and Wayne Bartrim missing. Leigh, on the other hand, were depleted with Michael Watts, Alan Hadcroft, John Duffy, Sonny Nickle, Paul Rowley and John Hamilton all absent.

It did give coach Paul Terzis the opportunity to blood Academy stars Kieron Maddox, Anthony Blackwood and Darren Woods as well as getting 80 minutes of action under Neil Turley's belt.

Leigh's record-breaking full-back eased his way through the game, not pushing himself too hard in his first senior match after a nasty back injury. Turley didn't try anything too ambitious but, typically, snatched a poacher's try in the first half. Bryan Henare was also given a full 80 minutes for the first time in Leigh colours and along with Dave Bradbury, another returning from injury, unsettled the Tigers defence with some powerful surging runs.

Pat Weisner combined the scrum-half and hooker roles with distinction but it was sub Willie Swann who really shone as Leigh took the game to the Tigers after half time.

Terzis was pleased with the way Leigh picked themselves up off the floor after being outclassed in the opening half.

"It took us a while to get to the pace of the game. We addressed one or two things at half time and I was proud of the way the team responded in the second half," he said. "They showed great character and commitment."

"It was a worthwhile exercise for us. I'm sure we got more out of it than Cas did. There were never going to be any negatives from the game from our point of view. We were only going to learn from the experience."

Leigh couldn't have made a worse start, leaking two tries in the opening four minutes after conceding cheap yards from successive penalties. New Zealand international second rower Michael Smith drove over for the first and Ryan Hudson sent Mark Lennon in for the second. Lennon added one goal and in next to no time Leigh were 10-0 down.

Tigers halves Danny Orr, Lennon and loose-forward Hudson were the major playmakers who caused Leigh most problems. Until they got to the pace of the game, the Centurions also struggled to contain the Tigers' speed at the play the ball and their swift, aggressive defensive line.

Leigh couldn't mount any serious pressure on the Tigers line and by the time hooker Wayne Godwin had touched down twice in eight minutes, Leigh had barely seen the Tigers' tryline.

But eight minutes from the break Leigh did what Wigan failed to do the previous week, break the Tigers defence. Lee Sanderson's banana kick over the Cas defence fooled everyone except Turley who collected to score at the side of the posts and add on the extra two points.

No-one will argue that Cas were the superior side in the first 40 and underlined their quality by sweeping back upfield when Hudson put in a clever kick to the corner for Damian Gibson to slide in just ahead of Turley.

Leigh were a different proposition after half time. A deterioration in the weather didn't do them any harm as Cas spilled the ball time after time. Leigh controlled the ball better, got some quality field position and were able to mount long spells of pressure.

But they had to wait until after the hour for any success and by that time Leroy Rivett's suicidal pass behind his own line presented Darren Rogers with a gift four pointer. Swann's speed and strength after picking up from the base of a scrum surprised Cas, three defenders unable to hold him as he wrestled his way through to the line for a try goaled by Turley.

Maddox, Bradbury and Holdstock all threatened to score before, four minutes from time, Lennon broke clear up the middle and the supporting Hudson scampered in unchallenged.

match facts

SCORERS

Leigh: Tries - Turley (32), Swann (62). Gls: Turley 2/2.

Castleford: Tries - Smith (2), Lennon (4), Godwin (21, 29), Gibson (37), Rodgers (59), Hudson (76). Gls: Lennon 4/7.

TEAMS

Leigh: Turley; Rivett, Munro, Cardoza, Andrews; Weisner, Sanderson; Ball, Maddox, Henare, Richardson, Blackwood, Bristow. Subs played: Swann, Holdstock, Alstead, Bradbury, Woods.

Castleford: Saxton; Pryce, Gibson, Eagar, Rogers; Orr, Lennon; Sykes, Godwin, Jackson, Smith, Thackray, Hudson. Subs played: Thaler, Blakeway, Huby, Johnson, Lynch.

Penalties conceded: Castleford 5, Leigh 6.

Handling errors: Castleford 23, Leigh 8.

Referee: Julian King (St Helens).

Attendance: 1427.

Moan

rLEIGH'S shocking start to the game which saw them give away two silly penalties that led to two tries. It knocked the stuffing out of them for quite a while.

Star

rSEVERAL good performances, especially in the second half. But it was Willie Swann, whose efforts with and without the ball, did most to give Cas an uncomfortable final 40 minutes.

Magic

rPOACHER Turley's first half try. It was more that Wigan could manage in an entire 80 minutes the previous week.