LEIGH RU edged home against Isle of Man Vagabonds in a thrilling opener at Round Ash Park, thanks to 18 points from new centre Paul Wilcock.

Wilcock converted an easy penalty chance and same player then ran 80m.

Leigh then relaxed and allowed the visitors two late first half tries for an unexpected lead.

The second half saw an immediate turn around when winger Paul Wynn raced under the posts after good forward pressure. Wilcock converted. The visitors then hit back with a long-range drop-goal from their outstanding fly half. Leigh re-took the lead with a Wilcock penalty, before freeing the centre for another long range run to the line for a 23-15 lead.

Again the visitors hit back with a converted try to bring them within a point. Leigh had to defend desperately in the last few minutes when two line-out steals by Dennis Bate proved to be match winners.

The Hawks opened their campaign with a 31-0 home defeat by West Park Warriors. Schroeder, Morgan and Waterworth defended well to keep the score down.

The Tofts gave a good account of themselves in a 22-12 defeat by Broughton Park.

After conceding an early score, Leigh fought back strongly and Yates ran round under the posts to open their account. After conceding a penalty and a second try, the Tofts began to play like the old days. A second try from Yates and further opportunities saw the Tofts push Broughton Park close, but the visitors just had enough in the tank to secure a win.

Leigh Vets started the season with a comfortable 52-14 win at Bolton.

Clegg opened the scoring after combining with the backs, but Bolton replied with two tries under the posts after basic errors from the Leigh side. Unsworth scored before half-time to equal the scores at 14-14.Leigh didn't play to their potential in the first half after losing Dainty (neck) and Billinge (ribs) in the first half due to injury.

Following a tactical and inspirational team talk from captain Tustin, Leigh were a different side in the second half, with the forwards getting their act together and the backs did the damage with a volley of tries, with Unsworth and Pendlebury both with a hat - trick of tries, and an excellent individual effort from debutant scrum - half Govin provided McKinstry with a try in the corner.

Cummings had an unusual good kicking game landing six out of eight conversions.

Man of the Match Award was presented to Unsworth by sponsors Wallpaper Supplies, Railway Road, Leigh.

On Sunday the Colts travelled to Tyldesley for the first Colts game to be played between the local rivals at St Georges Park.

Against a depleted home side Leigh started well with Newton driving over after three minutes which Eccles converted. The bigger Leigh forwards began to dominate and McKinstry scored on six minutes. Scott Williams scored from the left wing for his first try for the Colts, Eccles converting from the touchline. Leigh continued to work the ball through the forwards and added further tries from Wingrove, Butler and two more from McKinstry to complete a fine hat-trick.

Leigh went on to add further tries from McKinstry, John Baxter and Brett.

A fine performance from the forwards with Wood leading by example. Morgan was the pick of the backs with his surging runs at centre and is improving with every game. Man of the match for Leigh with his all-round game was second row Robert Povah.

Weekend Teams

1st XV From: Bate, Benson, Bentham, Bridge, Browning, Bullough, Carlile, Cunliffe, Davies, Fisher, Faid, Fletcher, Hampson, Jones, Penn, Prescott, Robinson, Wilcock, Wood, Wynn, Young (c). Ormskirk at home. Meet at 1.15pm.

2nd XV From: Ainscough, Egerton, Eccleston, Harrison, Wright, Hunt, Bates, O,Neil, Parker, Collier, Mills, Murray, Penn(c), Pilkington, Jones, Hughes, Boardman, Dewhurst, Sale, Westwell, Whitworth, Greenough. Ormskirk away. Meet at 12.30pm.

Hawks From: Waterworth, Lloyd, Heywood, Krause, Vernell, Hutchinson, Ashurst, Schroeder, Trumble, Hilton, Morgan, Norcross, Brunt, Wright, Thomas, Erskine, Harrison, Greenwood (c), Hillary, Baxter. Ormskirk at home. Meet at 2pm.

Vets From: Cunnings, Bailey, Dainty, Hampson, Marsden, Harper, Sutton, Taberner, Ransom, Saunders, McKinstry, Westwell, Woods D., Owen, Billinge, Clegg, Tustin(c), Marrow, Thompson, Unsworth, Marsh, Wood S., Smith. Ormskirk away. Meet at 12.30pm.

Tofts: From Porteous, Leake, Hilton, McKeever, Fallon, Yates(c), Miller, Lycett, Butler, Osborn, Lawrenson, Cheetham, Green B., Green G., Isherwood, Smith, Parkinson, Appleton, Leck. Ormskirk away. Meet at 12.30pm.

Colts: Brett, Vernell, Birkhill, Peters, Sumner, Eccles, Baxter, Newton, Wood, Baldeo, Pendlebury, Lloyd, McKinstry, Povah, Grimshaw (c). Bolton at home. Meet at 12pm Sunday.