LEIGH MR have their first away win in the bag. But they nearly ended nervous wrecks.

For threequarters of the match at Askam, Miners were totally dominant as they surged to 30-7; for the final 20 minutes they lost the plot as they dithered and were nearly dumped.

In the end Miners suffered for the final whistle which came at 30-25.

It had all looked so good early on as a youthful side took command. Second row Steve Flannery led with style, Stuart Littler and Steve McCulley repeatedly exploded into action, hooker Lee Lomax was a constant problem with his strength and balance.

And halfbacks Damien Fletcher and Mick Warburton organised more trouble than the Cumbrians could handle.

Lomax blasted in for the first TD, crashing in from 10 metres after hard drives by Simon Wood and Lee Stretch.

Then centre Neil McCulloch swept clear, Warburton took it on and his grubber kick to the line was inch-perfect for McCulley to dive in for a debut try, Winston Sarsfield adding his second goal.

Miners stuttered as Askam hit back. But that sparked new life into Leigh and Littler's surge ended with a second try for Lomax.

They extended that lead when sub packman Graham Hindley and Sarsfield combined and Fletcher spotted his chance to dart in under the posts, Sarsfield goaling.

A romp was on the cards with a super try for Warburton after winger Matt Irwin had spearheaded the attack with a 70-metre sprint down the line.

Sarsfield added the goal and then a penalty. Then it all went disastrously wrong.

With MoM Tony Bagnall and ex-Barrow hooker finding the inspiration, Askam charged ever closer. Only tryline tackles from full-back Darren Pilkington rescued a desperate situation quickly followed by head-down clearances from Stretch and Wood. Phew!

Two Leigh players have been named in last month's BARLA Teams for September - both at No 9. In the Premier Division Leigh MR hooker Tony Dowling gets a place; in Division One Leigh East hooker Gary Fletcher wins his place in the Team of the Month.

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