LEIGH EAST, who have been on an early-season high, came down to earth with a bump.

And their 30-12 loss at Featherstone Lions was a black day all round.

Both Gary Pendlebury and Tony Sanderson were sent off - both career firsts - while there were injuries for Shaun Whiteside, David Blinkhorn and 19-year-old Micky Redford.

Yet, frustratingly, East could still have won this scrappy, sub-standard match with a little concentration, better discipline and fewer missed tackles.

The Lions, despite a bigger pack, lacked East's attacking skills and individual abilities.

Still, though East may complain of a raw deal, they played well below par despite good efforts from Pendlebury, Kay, Phil Gunning, Gredecki, Sanderson and Grainey.

East scored two fine tries. First, battling back from a 12-point deficit, saw Gary Pendlebury storm in from John Gunning's slip pass.

Then, on 40 minutes, Gredecki twisted and turned out of a tackle to score, John Gunning adding his second goal.

The stage was set for another East revival. Instead, they crumbled as Featherstone forged clear.

On Saturday East have a chance to redeem themselves when Millom visit Grasmere Street. But coach Steve Grimshaw faces difficult team selection.

East U10s won 26-18 at Chorley Panthers with tries from MoM Macdonald, Davies, MoM Grundy and TT Fahy.

East Tigers U10s beat Rylands 28-22 with MoM Daniel Weaving scoring a hat-trick. Karl Morris was TT and other tries came from Penn, A McGuire and L Robertson.

East U9s beat Burtonwood. Notable shows from MoM Kieron Williams, TT Benson and Sam Brown.

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