Peak period!

Hunslet Hawks...10

Centurions...68

Mike Hulme reports

from South Leeds Stadium

I

T'S official. The Centurions are the second-best team in the NFP.

Now, with the runners-up spot safely in the bag with three games to spare, they can press on confidently and challenge Huddersfield for a place in the end of season showpiece Grand Final.

And if the evidence of the last few weeks is anything to go by, the Centurions are starting to peak at just the right time.

Just ask Gateshead and Hunslet who have leaked more points against Leigh in the last week than they have done against the Giants. 150 points in two games in the space of four days is no mean achievement, no matter what the standard of opposition.

Coach Paul Terzis knows his side is on the right lines. "We have won nine consecutive games and are moving towards peak performance. Everything is falling into place nicely."

Yet Terzis needed all his coaching know-how to get Leigh out of something of a hole.

After striding into an early 10-2 lead, Leigh found themselves pegged back to 10-apiece and only held a six-point cushion at the break.

"We needed to address a few problems at half time," he admitted. "But the players back up my instructions and scored some quality tries. It takes some doing to score more than 50 points without reply."

T

he Hawks employed a simple game-plan on their handkerchief-sized pitch and stuck with the Centurions for the best part of 50 minutes. But once Leigh had come to terms with things, they smoothly went through the gears and blew the Hawks off the park.

They scored 12 tries in total and had three more disallowed to take them to within 69 of breaking the 1000 points mark again.

Leading the rout was centre Dale Cardoza who, in just four appearances since signing from Doncaster, has become an immediate crowd favourite. Powerful and pacy, Cardoza swept in for a hat-trick to take his Leigh total to seven in next to no time.

The Leigh fans have also warmed to winger Oli Marns whose all-action style was rewarded with another try to add to his Gateshead treble. And on the other flank Eric Andrews showed some quality finishing to take his total to six in four days.

Half-back Simon Svabic and John Duffy created many of the running opportunities and when the hard work needed doing, it was Rob Ball who lead from the front in attack and defence.

Ball had already been held up over the line before Cardoza's powerful surge from acting half back brought Leigh's first try in the fourth minute, Svabic landing the first of 10 goals.

Referee Ben Thaler's interpretation of some of the rules had Leigh frustrated for a while, Gareth Naylor reducing the lead to 6-2 with a penalty. But the Duffy/Svabic combination created a try for Simon Baldwin and at 10-2 Leigh seemed set for a comfortable afternoon.

Even when the Hawks stung Leigh with two tries from Naylor and Powell to level things at 10-10, there was no sense of panic. Svabic's quick thinking brought Marns a converted try in the corner and at 16-10 were happy for the break to take stock.

H

unslet started strongly again but Adam Bristow's 50th minute try wide out finally broke their resistance.

From that point, tries came every few minutes as Leigh went through their full repertoire of attacking skills.

Before the hour mark Leigh were out of sight as Svabic's nifty footwork brought him a try and Cardoza had muscled over from dummy half again.

As Hunslet's defences crumbled, Leigh rammed home their advantage and another burst of three tries in five minute took them beyond the 50 mark again. Andy Isherwood laid a try on a plate for Paul Rowley, Cardoza scored the best try of the game to complete his hat-trick by beating three men on a 40 metres run and Mark McCully finished off a mesmerising handling move.

There was even more to come in the final six minutes as Jon Roper sent Andrews sprinting to the posts from long range, John Hamilton cleverly put Rowley in for his second and Isherwood strolled clear to complete the hammering.

Match Facts

Scorers - Leigh: Tries - Cardoza (5, 59, 64); Rowley (62, 76); Baldwin (14); Marns (38); Bristow (50); Svabic (56); McCully (67); Andrews (74); Isherwood (79). Gls: Svabic 10/12.

Hunslet: Tries - Naylor (20), Powell (34). Gls: Naylor 1/3.

Leigh: McCully; Andrews, Cardoza, Roper, Marns; Svabic, Duffy; Knox, Hamilton, Ball, Baldwin, Isherwood, Bristow. Subs: Morley (for Isherwood BB 13, BBR 23); Felton (for McCully BB 28, BBR HT); Rowley (for Hamilton HT), Matautia (for Knox 23); Morley (for Matautia 56); Hamilton (for Ball 56); Felton (for Marns 61); Ball (for Cardoza 68).

Hunslet: Johnson; Powell, Jessey, Cook, Bargate; Naylor, Hasty; Pryce, Howcroft, Bradbrook, Seal, Lockwood, Coyle. Subs: Lee (for Pryce 26); Dobson (for Jessey 58); Innes (for Cook 62); Webber (for Johnson 68); Pryce (for Bradbrook 54).

Penalties conceded: Leigh 6, Hunslet 9.

Handling errors: Leigh 8, Hunslet 8.

Sin-bin: Bradbrook (Hunslet) 3 mins, interference.

Referee: Ben Thaler (Wakefield).

Attendance: 658.

Man of the match

rSEVERAL genuine contenders. Duffy, Svabic, Ball all in with a shout but for a display of awesome pace and power it's got to be Cardoza.

Magic Moment

rCARDOZA'S hat-trick try which started on half way and ended with the Leigh centre beating three defenders with consummate ease.

Moan of the match

rTOO much whistle early on from rookie ref Ben Thaler. When he let the players become the central figures, it was a far better spectacle.