York Wasps 22
Leigh Centurions 28
STUART Donlan was lucky to still be in one piece when he skipped over for Leigh's face-saving match-winner two minutes from time.
Donlan could easily have been in hospital instead of completing a remarkable Leigh fightback that saw them snatch victory with 12 points in the final seven minutes.
The victim of a vicious and deliberate spear tackle early in the second half, Donlan battled on despite a painful neck injury before finally coming up with the clinching score that moved Leigh back to the top of the Northern Ford Premiership.
The 44th minute 'spearing' of the Leigh full-back had Centurions coach Paul Terzis seething.
Picked up and driven head first into the turf in a two-man tackle, Donlan needed several minutes of treatment before carrying on.
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," says Terzis. "The referee and two line officials all had clear views of the incident, yet it was only at the insistence of our players that they decided to put it on report. It was a shocking decision."
It was just one of a number of dodgy rulings by referee Ronnie Laughton that ruined a bad game.
Again Leigh were well below their best, unable to maintain the high standards they've set themselves.
Yet to their credit they didn't throw the towel in when the game seemed to be slipping away when second-bottom York crept into a 22-16 lead with 13 minutes left.
"We got out of a hole," admitted Terzis. "We showed tremendous poise and self-belief in those final seven or eight minutes and finally came good."
"Victory was vital for us after two defeats inside a week and while we're the first to admit we didn't play well, it shows that this side doesn't know when it's beaten."
There were mitigating circumstances why Leigh misfired so badly. Leigh almost had as much quality sitting in the stands as they had out on the pitch. Dean, Fairclough, Higham and Murray were all out injured and several others carried knocks into the game.
A routine win seemed on the cards when Paul Anderson smashed his way through for the opening try inside eight minutes but with halves Gareth Dobson and Mark Cain buzzing around in midfield, York were no easybeats.
Darren Callaghan's chip to the corner brought an equalising try for Matt Woodcock before Graeme Close's first touch after coming on as a sub, gave Anderson a second touchdown. Paul Wingfield goaled from the touchline to make it 10-4.
But again Leigh dropped their guard when a try from Andy Hill, goaled by Andy Precious levelled it at 10-10 at the break.
Two minutes after the break a Donlan surge to the York posts saw Kieron Purtill hoist a crossfield bomb which put the Wasps' defenders in two minds and the Leigh skipper followed up for a six-pointer. A burst of 10 points in as many minutes set up a shock York win. Andy Lambert fended off Donlan to score at the corner and Andy Preston intercepted a stray pass from Adam Bristow to sprint 70 metres.
Down 22-16, Leigh were staring defeat in the face. York threw them a lifeline when Dobson fumbled Anderson's speculative kick at the foot of his own posts and Purtill pounced for another converted try to square things at 22-22.
With time running out Alan Cross pierced the York defence, pulled Callaghan out of position and sent Donlan racing in for the winner.
Leigh: Donlan; Wingfield, Anderson, Cross, Hadcroft; Bowker, Purtill; Street, Patel, Whittle, Baldwin, Cruckshank, Bristow. Subs (all played): Ingram, Causey, Norman, Close. Attendance: 814.
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