North Wales Crusaders 16 Leigh Centurions 28

BRILLIANT Leigh Centurions concluded their league campaign with their 25th win from 26 games, but they will have to be better when they welcome Doncaster in the play-offs next week.

It was a functional rather than sparkling performance on a sunny day in Wrexham when for a lot of the time, the hosts were allowed to dictate the pace of the game.

Leigh were without Gregg McNally and Liam Kay with Johnny Pownall and Steve Maden coming in.

North Wales started with a glut of possession and Leigh defended superbly with very little ball of their own in the first ten minutes. Eventually Crusaders created a chance when Jamie Dallimore chipped over the defensive line, regathered and sent supporting fullback Tommy Johnson under the posts. Johnson goaled and Crusaders led 6-0.

Leigh fashioned a couple of promising attacks but were guilty of not finishing, Ryan Brierley sent Kurt Haggerty streaming downfield only for the second row to lose possession in a tackle from Johnson.

Crusaders also put together some attack although Leigh’s defence again held them at bay with Bob Beswick and Haggerty putting themselves about, while the centre duel between Christiaan Roets and Michael Platt bubbled and simmered nicely.

Former Leigh East forward Toby Adamson had a great first spell on the field for the hosts but the Centurions began to show their class and bossed the final ten minutes of the half.

As he often does, Martyn Ridyard was the catalyst. He fired a short pass right that put Johnny Walker through for his first Centurion try and Leigh’s 200th of the season. Something sparked in-goal following the touchdown and referee Jamie Bloem put the incident (that saw players from both teams run in) on report.

Tricky play on the left from Maden gave the Centurions good ground and when Ridyard and Pownall linked down the same side, Pownall passed at the right second for Tom Armstrong to ground his 20th try of the season out wide. It proved too far out for the conversion and although a penalty went against the Centurions for obstruction on their next attack, Leigh held on to lead 10-6 at half-time with Ryan Duffy and Johnson missing scoring opportunities for Crusaders.

Another off the ball incident was placed on report early in the second half and both teams were put on a warning before rugby broke out again.

This coincided with the introduction of Sean Penkywicz who began to find gaps in the defence which allowed Jake Emmitt and Sam Hopkins to up their game.

One such play saw Ridyard involved and Hopkins strode over for his stand-off to goal and open a ten point advantage after 55 minutes.

Things got better for the Centurions when another great run from Hopkins was supported by Brierley and he beat three men on a tricky run to the line. Ridyard’s fourth goal made it 22-6 before a lengthy stoppage saw another former Leigh East man, Johnny Walker carried from the field for North Wales.

Leigh too had to reshuffle with Adam Higson leaving the field.

The enforced stoppage galvanised the hosts and on-loan Duffy charged over for Johnson to goal. It only proved temporary respite as Ridyard again showed his creative genius to send Brierley clear and over the line for his 40th try of the season.

As the game petered out there was still time for Duffy to notch his second try to earn Crusaders a bonus point while the Centurions celebrated the win with their big noisy contingent of fans.

Leigh: Pownall, Higson, Platt, Armstrong, Maden; Ridyard, Brierley; Emmitt, Beswick, Hopkins, Wilkes, Haggerty, Barlow. Subs: Penkywicz, Sarsfield, Walker, Acton.

Referee: Jamie Bloem

Attendance: 1,206.