I sit here, 24 hours after Leigh's season came to a shuddering halt against a handy Sheffield Eagles team. It was disappointing, seeing a Leigh season that promised so much up until the midpoint of the season, come away with nothing but pride from the season.
Last night's game against the Eagles still resonates. From leading 18-12 at half-time, Leigh slumped to a 24-26 defeat. This was one that got away although few fans could argue with the result. Leigh eventually lost despite holding an eight point advantage at one stage in the third quarter. Don't get me wrong, the Eagles deserved their win, they made linebreaks on either flank and were unlucky not to score a couple of extra tries, particularly down the wing of Menzie Yere and Danny Mills. Both those players looked dangerous with Leigh having no answer and no real attack from distance, despite a number of solid performances.
Tim Bergin scored the first try after four minutes from a suspicious pass from Simon Brown after Chris Hill was yellow carded for making contact with Brown a few seconds earlier when the former Doncaster man put a raking kick down field.
Thankfully the half-back fluffed his kick, as he did with four other attempts and Leigh fired straight down the ground. The Centurions won a penalty and David Armitstead twisted over despite the attentions of a couple of players. This came after the excellent Mike Morrison ran strongly and Dave McConnell cleverly worked the position.
With Leigh still down to twelve men, the Eagles swept the ball down their right and Peter Green stormed on before linking with Joe Hirst and he touched down.
Leigh then showed good persistance and it paid off when Robbie Paul sent Paul Smith through with a nice short pass. Mick Nanyn converted and although Sheffield were fortunate when Yere's try was awarded by the video referee just as it appeared that Alex Szostak and then Brendon Lindsay were halted.
A couple of minutes later, Chris Hill made up for his earlier blemish with a cracking break down the middle. Ricky Bibey supported and a flying Eagle tackled back to dislodge the ball. Leigh played on and John Duffy claimed possession before Martyn Ridyard and McConnell worked the numbers and Steve Maden got Nanyn over for his 20th try of the season before the big centre expertly split the posts and make it 18-12.
At the start of the new half Leigh came up with three errors. First they kicked the ball out on the full, then James Taylor lost the ball and a missed tackle allowed Yere to bullock over the line after just a couple of minutes.
Sheffield's tail feathers were up but Leigh held them out. Duffy then turned creator with a slide rule grubber kick that saw Steve Nash get his first try of the season and at 24-16 Leigh should have closed the game out.
The Eagles then upped their game and Leigh couldn't live with their speed. Szostak scored a controversial penalty try while Leigh saw a Stuart Donlan effort over-ruled before a telling play brought the Centurions to their knees and a chip over from the experienced Lindsay resulted in a mistake at the back and Sheffield linked play well for Bergin to gallop over.
Fair play to the Eagles, they highlighted Leigh's shortcomings and took advantage in the end, despite at one point appearing content to blow opportunity after opportunity.
The loss will no doubt herald a host of departures from the Sports Village and although there have been no official announcements so far, I think Leigh fans have seen the last of Mike Morrison, Dave McConnell, Dave Alstead and Nick Stanton in the first team.
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