Leigh Miners Rangers 16
Leigh East 10 A MARVELLOUSLY worked try from young winger Craig Graham in the seventh minute of added time finally secure victory for the Miners in last Friday's pulsating derby thriller under the Twist Lane lights.
The game was full of tension, thrills and excitement as Leigh's premier clubs met in league action for the first time in six years, attracting a crowd of over 1000.
When East's talented 18-year-old scrum-half Martin Meadows scrambled in for a try under the posts in the last minute of normal time and Dave Radley added the extras, an honourable draw looked certain.
But the drama was far from over.
Three minutes later East were reeling under an onslaught from the Miners. Lee Lomax and Chris Flynn took play deep into enemy territory and when Lomax was held back, centre Mark Hudspith banged over a 30-metre penalty goal that made amends for a couple of earlier simple misses.
Superb pass
The referee's watch ticked on...and on. The Miners weathered another set of six before getting possession. Sub Sean Phoenix broke down the left and with a superb pass put winger Graham away for a match-clinching 40-meter dash.
It was a thrilling finish to a fine game that kept everyone spellbound.
East had half-backs Danny Kilshaw and Meadows in top form; centres Mick Redford and Lee Penkywicz were always a threat and there were powerful runners in Radley, Steve Tooze, Mick Whiteside and John Taylor.
The Miners' Mick Morris and Mick Warburton gave as good as they got at half-back while Richard Varkulis was a constant danger at centre. Lomax, Craig Wilson and Tommy Goulding were stars in the pack.
A 40/20 from Hudspith set up the position for the Miners to take a second minute lead. The ball was whipped from the base of the scrum and Varkulis powered over for a try that Steve Flannery was unable to convert.
East responded with a series of raids and when Kilshaw's long pass created space, Penkywicz was able to get John Woods in at the corner for the equaliser.
Matt Irwin produced a couple of fine tackles to deny Meadows while Simon Warhurst and Dave Ellison defended well at the other end.
The deadlock was broken when Steve Flannery landed a 16th minute penalty to give the Miners a 6-4 half time lead.
In the second half East introduced John Gunning and Darren Hall and although they worked openings for Penkywicz and Mark Kay, Graham's defence was up to the task.
Silenced
When veteran forward Mark Meadows silenced the East fans' cat-calls by crashing in for a 63rd minute try it still didn't look quite enough, especially when Hudspith fired his goal attempt wide and then missed a reasonable penalty shot five minutes later.
Meadows then grabbed his try to set up a thrilling finale to a great clash. COMING THROUGH - Miners half-back Mick Warburton was in good form.
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