Leigh Centurions run riot at league leaders Halifax

IT was expected to be a close game and for half an hour that is what everyone at The Shay got - then the floodgates opened!

There is little doubt that the Centurions stock is rising.

Now they are up to second in the league with 16 tries scored in their last two games and only four conceded.

It points to widespread improvement and the worrying thing for the Championship is that there is still improvement left in this Leigh side.

Although Centurions scored eight tries in this latest win, the cornerstone to victory was laid once again by their measly defence which frustrated Halifax until a point in the second half when Leigh-born Sean Penkywicz was sin-binned for dissent.

Perhaps surprisingly given the final score, it took 29 minutes for the first points of the game.

Initially, Leigh got on top and forced a drop out from their first possession but Halifax repelled the attack and responded when Martyn Ridyard stubbed a kick through the line and Ben Black ran 60 metres only to be tackled back by a flying Robbie Paul who turned and chased before eventually catching Black.

Although Halifax had another couple of chances their poor ball retention let them down with Tyrone McCarthy winning a cheeky ball steal before Jon Goddard coughed a ball up straight to Paul.

Leigh grew in confidence although McCarthy knocked on close to the line and fellow dual contract man Matty Blythe was harshly ruled to have knocked on when he appeared to throw a legitimate offload.

After Dave McConnell had softened Halifax up, Leigh threw John Duffy into the fray and it was he and fellow substitute David Armitstead (in the form of his Leigh career) who prised open the defence.

Duffy jumped from dummy half and found Armitstead whose sensible offload found a predatory Martyn Ridyard.

The stand off altered the direction of his run and ducked past an attempted tackle to score a try for the third successive game.

Leigh's second try came two minutes later when Centurions tired Frank Watene in the centre of the field before Paul chipped over and an onrushing Lee Mitchell stole a bouncing ball from stunned Fax fullback Shad Royston. Mick Nanyn added the second of six goals before Halifax finally put an attack together which led to Royston beating four players in a swerving run to the line.

Former Leigh Miners wing Lee Paterson missed the goal attempt before Leigh took charge again, literally.

Impressive substitute Jacob Emmitt proved unstoppable near the line as five defenders failed to halt the juggernaut. Nanyn again goaled and was on the mark after the half time siren sounded with a long distance penalty when the Halifax restart failed to go 10 metres.

Trailing 20-4 at half-time, Halifax tried to pick up the pace early in the second half through a Penkywicz chip and chase but the bounce favoured Centurions and they went on to dominate possession for the next 10 minutes.

Steve Maden saw a try disallowed but the winger put a stop to an attempted break out after former Hull KR centre Jon Goddard tried to round him.

With Duffy and Paul continuing to marshal their troops there was little surprise when Leigh increased their lead after 53 minutes.

It was Duffy who broke through a gap before the supporting Stuart Donlan finished. The score was soon taken to 30-4 when Ridyard split the defence with a pass to Nanyn and the centre scored in the corner.

Ten minutes later a bizarre try fell the hosts’ way when the ball appeared to go forward off Black and he sent Bob Beswick scurrying for the posts. Paterson goaled before a remote chance of Fax picking up a bonus point became no chance thanks to the sin-binning of Penkywicz for kicking the ball at Nanyn after the half back had held the centre down.

That saw Leigh find another gear and Centurions revelled in the space with three tries in quick succession.

First Mitchell touched down for Nanyn to add his sixth goal after some excellent running in support of Maden.

Then from the restart Halifax won the ball back only to see Watene throw a wayward pass, straight to Matty Blythe and he raced 50 metres between the posts.

Five minutes from the end, Leigh's eighth try came when skipper Paul kept twisting and turning to evade four tacklers on the line and Ridyard tagged on his second goal to ensure a comfortable win.

Halifax: Shad Royston (1t), James Haley, Jon Goddard, Lee Paterson (1g), Rob Worrincy; Sean Penkywicz, Ben Black; Makali Aizue, Bob Beswick (1t), David Wrench, David Larder, Stephen Bannister, Stanley Gene. Subs: Mark Roberts, Frank Watene, Dominic Maloney, Paul White.

Leigh: Stuart Donlan (1t), Steve Maden, Matty Blythe (1t), Mick Nanyn (1t, 6g), Dave Alstead; Martyn Ridyard (1t, 2g), Robbie Paul (1t); Chris Hill, Dave McConnell, Ricky Bibey, James Taylor, Tommy Goulden, Tyrone McCarthy. Subs: John Duffy, David Armitstead, Lee Mitchell (2t), Jacob Emmitt (1t).

Penalty Count: 9-8

Half time: 4-20

Referee: Mark Thomason

Attendance: 3,071