LEIGH took the winning ticket. But Siddal looked like they had won the raffle.

The battling amateurs from Halifax pushed Leigh all the way in Sunday's Challenge Cup clash.

They never gave them a minute's peace and went home satisfied with a job well done and a few quid in the bank.

The National Conference Division One side's gutsy effort drew deserved praise from coach Ian Millward after the 34-12 triumph. "They're a credit to themselves and the amateur game," he said.

"They came out to play the tie in the right spirit. They paced themselves well and were still having a go right at the death. This was their cup final and they played well above themselves."

If Siddal raised their game, Leigh rarely got out of second gear. When they did it was good to watch. When they didn't it was instantly forgettable.

"I'm happy with a win," added Millward. "That was the object of the exercise. But we could have certainly handled things better.

"As I say virtually every week, there are areas of our game that still need a lot of work. We're far from the finished article." As indifferent as they were, Leigh were never in the slightest danger of losing the game. They had far too much firepower to let Siddal get any idea of an upset.

As it was they had to settle for six tries in a game littered with errors. Twenty-six scrums tells the story of a game that never really got started.

Not until Phil Kendrick's 48th minute try could Leigh finally shake Siddal loose.

But they began in a hurry when Radney Bowker, Kieron Purtill and Alan Hadcroft combined to send Stuart Donlan over.

Mick Higham then scored twice in as many minutes. Leigh were in cruise control.

"That was the moment that tested our character," admitted Siddal player/coach Mick Shaw.

"We had two ways to go at that point. We could have thrown the towel in or we could have rolled our sleeves up and got stuck in. I'm delighted the lads responded in the right way and we were able to go on a make a game of it."

Siddal could hardly believe their luck when Leigh presented them a gift try, but Phil Kendrick's try after good work by Anthony Murray and Paul Anderson gave Leigh a 16-point cushion.

Siddal struck again and Leigh could never completely relax.

But they pulled themselves together and Andy Fairclough shot through for a try; Purtill then put Donlan in for his second to give Paul Wingfield his fifth goal.

LEIGH: Donlan; Cross, Hadcroft, Kendrick, Wingfield; Bowker, Purtill; Norman, Higham, Whittle, Anderson, Bristow, Fairclough. Subs: Murray, Halliwell, Conway, Street. Attendance: 1,643.

Our picture shows Paul Wingfield seeking a way through a packed Siddal defence.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.