West Bowling 32 Leigh East 16: LEIGH East's hopes of reaching the National Conference play-offs took another knock on Saturday with a heavy defeat at the hands of Bradford side West Bowling.

There seemed to be some light at the end of the tunnel following their return to form against Siddal but Saturday saw them return to their bad old ways with wasted possession, incomplete sets and missed tackles. From being championship material they have dissolved into a mediocre midtable side.

Lee Wingfield - East's man of the match and the game's star forward - Michael Whiteside, Lee Rowley, Simon Warhurst and skipper John Gunning worked their socks off while Gary Molyneaux showed flashes of real class at full-back. But overall it was another below par performance from a side which promised so much earlier in the season.

Yet in the first half, despite being 10-6 down at one stage, East were the better side. West Bowling were 8-0 up after 15 minutes with East pulling six points back with a Gunning try and John Woods goal.

West Bowling added a penalty but within minutes Kilshaw and Gunning combined and Wingfield stepped out of tackles to score a try goaled by East for a 12-10 half time lead.

East were on top and a win was within reach but when they lost top tackler John Taylor through injury, the momentum went with him. East never got back into their stride and scored just once more, an unconverted try from Woods, while Bowling crossed for four more tries to seal a convincing win.