LEIGH Miners Rangers went down to defeat against reigning champions and current title favourites Siddal 48-16 although the final scoreline doesn’t do justice to the efforts of the Leigh side.

Trailing 18-10 early in the second half after a well-worked Darryl Kay try set up by Tom Maloney and then a strong finish out wide for Mick O’Boyle, Miners were very much in contention but the sin-binning of Matt Astley proved pivotal as Siddal raced in three tries during their spell of numerical superiority to secure victory and render a battling try for big prop Andy Philbin as only consolation.

This Saturday Miners host Rochdale Mayfield in a huge Twist Lane encounter with a 2.30pm kick off.

The Alliance team travelled to Hindpool and a valiant effort saw them succumb 38-6 against their Barrow-based opponents.

On Sunday the women’s team paid the price for a slow first half, disrupted by an injury to one of the Miners’ ladies, as St Patricks showed enterprise to use the full width of the pitch with three well-worked tries and a 14-0 interval lead.

Miners did get across the whitewash after the interval but went down 20-6.

The under-18s though did pick up a victory as they were handsome 52-10 winners over Orrell St James on Sunday.

Try scorers were Joe Bibey (hat-trick), Ethan Jones, Matt Galvin, Josh Aldred, John Pollitt, Owen Johnson and Joe Bordman, with Jack Gatcliffe kicking eight goals.

Elsewhere, the first team have been presented with a home draw in the preliminary round of the Conference Trophy as they will face Dewsbury Celtic for the first time in over two decades at Twist Lane on Saturday, April 29.

The winners of that tie will have a further home draw in the first round against Ince Rose Bridge.

Meanwhile, the club welcomed speakers from State of Mind as part of the AGM a few weeks ago.

Ex-Leigh Centurions and Warrington star Ian Knott and former Super League referee Ian Smith gave powerful presentations on their own experiences in what was an utterly absorbing and thought-provoking session attended by players, coaches and volunteers.