WARREN AYRES breathed a huge sigh of relief as an ambitious late penalty fell short and Leigh MR scraped in 14-12.

The defeat of out-of-sorts Redhill - who have not won since mid-November - was a huge survival bonus for the Twist Lane side.

In a nailbiter, both sides were guilty of a series of handling errors, Miners knocking on three times in as many minutes.

The Yorkshire side took command early on, but Miners drew first blood, Chris Wilkinson banging over a penalty.

Wilko, on his first start of the season, was revelling in the difficult wet 'n windy conditions.

And he saw Miners edge ahead at the break with Mick Warburton scooting over from a scrum. Redhill rallied soon afterwards to level, then forged into a six-point lead. Miners could have folded then, but Warburton sparked them into life.

And Lee Lomax, always a bundle of energy, turned the match on its head when he burst through, shrugging off would-be tacklers to plunge in at the posts.

Wilkinson delivered the coupe de grace with a penalty 10 minutes from time.

They should have underlined victory, but Mick Evans' pass went astray with Mark Sarsfield in support and the line beckoning.

But it was enough.

LEIGH MR's Kevin Doorey has been named head coach of BARLA's Great Britain Young Lions squad to face France in two Tests in April.

The squad includes four players from Leigh Miners and one from Leigh East.

They are Shaun Frawley, Ian Hodgson, Daryl Rowlands and Richard Varkulis (MR) plus Simon Warhurst (East).

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