11:17am Thursday 2nd September 2010
NATIONAL Conference champions Leigh East lost 24-22 to Leigh Miners in an early season derby.
East led 22-2 early in the second half before having three players sent off.
The champions were frustrated by a number of decisions they claimed to be controversial and impacting on the result.
Miners sealed victory with a Brennan try converted by O’Brien.
Ryan Peters put East ahead with a penalty after seven minutes.
Miners were awarded a penalty kick that Dale Aldred converted to level at 2-2.
Peters added a further two penalties before the first try was scored on the half hour, Gary Middlehurst breaking through on half way and passing to Ryan Fieldhouse to finish off.
Peters continued with faultless kicking for a 12-2 lead.
Three minutes later East stretched the Miners defence with great passing play between Ballard, Peters, Millington and the try scorer Steve Ormanshaw. Peters coolly slotted the conversion over from the touchline.
On 36 minutes, John Taylor was sent to the sin bin but Peters added two more points after a penalty for holding down.
Two minutes into stoppage time Brennan was sin binned for ripping the ball out in the tackle.
Three minutes after the restart Peters added another penalty to give East a 20-point lead.
Taylor and Brennan were back on the pitch four minutes into the second half.
And Brennan was involved in the build up to Miners’ opening try in the 46th minute and converted from the touchline.
On 50 minutes, several players became involved in a fracas with East’s Ryan Fieldhouse singled out as the instigator and was sent off.
From the penalty, O'Brien found a gap to score a try and Brennan’s conversion moved the score on to 22-14.
The match fell apart for East in the 68th minute. Stevens retaliated after believing an attacker led with an elbow and he received a red card.
Four minutes later Miners closed the gap to four points with an unconverted try.
One minute into stoppage time, East were on the attack and Peters attempted a drop goal from 30 yards out which was charged down by a Miners player.
The ball spun behind the charger and was picked up by Taylor, who was penalised for offside.
From the penalty, Miners stretched the East defence and Brennan scored the decisive try, leading to Taylor being sent off for applauding the referee.
Next up for East is a home fixture against Wath Brow Hornets on Saturday.
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