It's Hull-uva struggle...

West Hull...5

STUBBORN resistance from West Hull and a hit-and-miss effort from the Centurions made Leigh's progression into round four of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup a low-key affair.

While Leigh were the first to admit they were well below their best, it wasn't difficult to see why.

Head coach Paul Terzis opted to keep many of his big guns out of the firing line, instead happy to rely on his fringe players to carry the Centurions through the next round. Jason Johnson, Willie Swann, Jamie Gass and Lee Sanderson were all blooded for the first time and without setting the world on fire, they played their part in Leigh's success.

Centre Johnson picked up a couple of late tries and Sanderson came off the bench to nip in for Leigh's sixth and last touchdown. Gass did some damage with a number of strong midfield drives while Samoan international Swann worked hard in defence but struggled with the attacking side of his game.

"With so many new faces in the side it was always going to be difficult to produce a smooth performance," admitted Terzis.

"But this was the ideal game in which to give some game time to the rest of our first team squad. Some of them put their hands up and have staked their claims for future involvement." Terzis wasn't surprised by how difficult West Hull made it for Leigh. "This was their cup final and they showed why they are viewed as the best amateur team in the country. They can be very proud of the way they played today," he said.

"They came with a game plan to slow the play down at every opportunity and prevent us from playing at the tempo we like. Up to a point that worked for them."

The Harris brothers, Wayne at loose-forward and Mark at scrum-half, were always in the thick of the action and although Wests went 3-0 up with a penalty and field goal from Wayne - the first time Leigh have been behind at Hilton Park this season - they never gave any indication that they were capable of penetrating Leigh's defences.

"That was the one aspect of the game that pleased me most," added Terzis. "Our defence was very strong and they never really put any pressure on our line."

Likewise Leigh found it difficult to break Wests down in the first half hour.

"In attack we tended to try the difficult things and they didn't come off. When we stuck to what we do best, we scored tries," added Terzis.

A Wayne Harris penalty, quickly followed by a long range one-pointer, had Leigh trailing 3-0 before Gass blasted clean through the middle to start the move that ended with Simon Svabic's cut-out pass giving Andy Fairclough the chance to burst through for the opening try and a 4-3 lead.

That was all the encouragement Leigh needed. Swann was held up over the line but from the next set of six, sub John Duffy's reverse pass found Dave Whittle who crashed over from close range. Right on the stroke of half time Svabic's long pass was taken after a juggle by Paul Anderson who muscled his way over out wide for his sixth try of the season. Svabic added one conversion. Leigh's half time lead of 14-3 was reduced to 14-5 when Harris potted another penalty soon after the break and they had to wait until the 61st minute to finally put the game to bed.

Clever inter-passing by Duffy and Paul Norman enabled Duffy to race clear before linking up with Svabic and Fairclough to sent Johnson diving in at the corner.

Anderson had a try disallowed from a Swann bomb but in the final three minutes Leigh punished a tiring Wests defence with two more tries. Assisted by an attempted interception from Wests, Fairclough was able to pick up the pieces and get Johnson in again. With time almost up, a short ball from Gass sent fellow Aussie Michael Watts screaming through a gap and the supporting Johnson fed Sanderson who neatly wrong-footed the cover to nip in for a try he goaled himself. LEIGH: Ingram; Watts, Anderson, Johnson, Jones; Svabic, Swann; Gass, Roden, Whittle, Fairclough, Kendrick, Purtill. Subs: Norman (for Gass 31), Duffy (for Roden (26), Bretherton (for Purtill 23 BB), Sanderson (for Purtill 65), Purtill (for Bretherton 36 BBR), Gass (for Whittle 58), Roden (for Duffy 70), Bretherton (for Svabic 75).

WEST HULL: Moreton; Jones, Rounding, Moore, Leake; Newby, Harris M; Horsfield, Stephenson, Johnson, Roberts L, Last, Harris W. Subs: Marquez-Laynez (for Richardson 44), Roberts P (for Roberts L 79), Cook (for Last 72), Richardson (for Johnson 23), Johnson (for Stephenson 76).

SCORERS: Leigh - Tries: Johnson (2), Fairclough, Whittle, Anderson, Sanderson. Gls: Svabic, Sanderson.

West Hull - Gls: Harris W (2), fg Harris W.

PENALTIES CONCEDED: Leigh 9, West Hull 8.

SCRUMS WON: Leigh 11, West Hull 11.

REFEREE: Russell Smith (Castleford).

ATTENDANCE: 1547.