PAUL Norman didn't know until a few weeks ago whether he had a future with the Centurions. Now he knows he does.

The unsung packman was Leigh's unlikely match-winner at Mount Un-Pleasant, his vital try and high workrate off the bench drawing warm praise from his coach and earning a second successive NFP victory.

Norman and his co-substitute Rob Ball injected new life into the flagging Centurions just when the appeared to be heading for a major upset. Leigh had struggled to cope with the miserable conditions and a pack of snarling Bulldogs, only in the final quarter showing signs of their pre-match star billing.

With over an hour gone and the Centurions behind 11-4, Ball and Norman produced the move and the try that finally sent the Bulldogs away with their tails between their legs.

From that moment the game was turned on its head. Once in front Leigh's confidence grew and Batley crumbled. Two more tries in the final nine minutes took the Centurions well clear. It may have been a flattering margin at the end - but winners earn the right to be grinners.

Head coach Paul Terzis was the first to pay tribute to his couple of super subs.

"Paul asked me in the off-season if he had a future at Leigh and I told him he was part of my plans for the foreseeable future. He agreed to a new deal and has worked hard to get into the team. He deserves his moment of glory.

"Rob (Ball) is motivated because of the way he was discarded by Wigan. His performance today shows that our friends at the JJB have dropped another clanger by letting him go. Their loss is our gain."

Yet despite ending with a flourish Leigh know that they are some way from being the finished article.

They have only themselves to blame for leaving a mountain to climb - in more ways than one!

An error-strewn opening 40 minutes played right into Batley's hands. The Bulldogs tore up the North Face of Mount Pleasant out of the freezing fog into the Centurions laser blue legions. Four times Batley forced Leigh to drop out from their own line and three times put back-to-back sets together in the shadow of Leigh's posts.

One of the few things Leigh did get right on the day was to keep their defensive shield virtually intact despite the relentless pressure.

Even Terzis admitted he was happy to reach the break only six points adrift at 10-4.

"Our biggest failing was that our completion rate in the first half was only 35 per cent as opposed to Batley's 90. Given the amount of possession they had, they should have been further in front. If we get that amount of ball against teams we'd have put 20 or 30 points on the board.

"I think the boys drew confidence from their defensive effort in the first half and laid the platform for what we did in the second. We always believed we would come away with a win."

Terzis admitted it was unusual for Leigh to cough up so much ball in such a short space of time, errors that constantly had them on the back foot. Wingers Dave Ingram and Liam Bretherton came up with two unforced howlers apiece as Glen Tomlinson and Dean Lawford constantly turned Leigh round with a long kicking game. But they were by no means the only culprits as key elements of Leigh's game went to the dogs.

Lawford's first minute 40/20 touchfinder set the tone for a first 40 of almost total Batley pressure. Yet their simple, no frills approach only brought a reward of two tries.

Twenty-two minutes of stalemate was broken when Batley sub Mark Cass dropped Ryan Horsley off on the inside, the skipper sending the supporting Tomlinson sliding in at the side of the uprights. Jeremy Dyson goaled easily.

Ten minutes later Leigh found themselves 10-0 down when Simon Baldwin charged down Dyson's field goal attempt only possession to end up back in Batley hands. This time they didn't waste it with half-backs Tomlinson and Lawford combining to send Danny Maun charging over from 10 metres.

Leigh needed something on the scoreboard to get their teeth into for the second half and it was Baldwin and Turley who provided it right on the bell. Baldwin dropped a perfectly weighted kick over the 'Dogs defensive line and Turley got the scoring touch ahead of Dyson. Luckily for Turley not many saw his horribly miscued goal shot into the blanket of fog.

Leigh clearly found playing up the slope to their liking in the second half, looking more like their old selves as they began to claw their way out of trouble.

Turley's 53rd minute penalty cut the deficit to just four points but that became five soon afterwards as Lawford clipped over a field goal to make it 11-4.

The moment that turned the match came with 18 minutes left and with Jon Roper moved inside from centre to stand-off. It was Roper's deft ball that sent Ball steaming through a gap and off up the hill. He made 40 metres before finding Norman at his shoulder, the big front-rower showing a nifty turn of pace and side-step round Dyson and the strength to hold off two defenders as he just made it to the posts. An easy two points from Turley put Leigh ahead for the first time.

That took all the wind out of Batley's sails as Leigh went on to win going away.

Willie Swann's cut out pass enabled Ingram to make amends for his earlier mistakes by scrambling in at the corner - although the less said about Turley's miscued conversion attempt the better!

Two minutes from time one of Leigh's more consistent performers, second rower Andy Isherwood, made 40 metres and while Batley were slow to regroup Turley had the vision to kick ahead and beat a startled Dyson for his second touchdown.

Match Facts

Scorers - Leigh: Tries - Turley 2, Norman, Ingram. Gls - Turley 3. Batley: Tries - Tomlinson, Maun. Gl - Dyson. FG - Lawford.

Penalties for: Leigh 7, Batley 7.

Scrums won: Leigh 10, Batley 11.

Attendance: 1114

Referee: Peter Taberner (Wigan).

LEIGH: Turley; Ingram, Anderson, Roper, Bretherton; Swann, Purtill; Whittle, Rowley, Morley, Baldwin, Isherwood, Bristow. Subs: Ball (for Morley 36); Hamilton (for Rowley BB 20, BBR 38), Norman (for Isherwood 32), McCulley (for Purtill 60), Morley (for Whittle 53), Isherwood (for Ball 66), Ball (for Norman 75).

BATLEY: Dyson; North, Maun, Smith, Gleadhill; Tomlinson, Lawford; Wright, Stevens, Spink, Rourke, Toohey, Horsley. Subs: Cass (for Stevens 14), Cartledge (for Rourke 57), Nadiole (for Wright 51), Harrison (for Toohey 60), Wright (for Spink 65), Rourke (Nadiole 74).