Gallant Leigh go down fighting.

Leigh travelled to Penrith yesterday hoping to add another win to their tally after winning their last League encounter against Widnes but unfortunately Penrith came out on top in what was a closely contested encounter.

The team bus passed through inches of snow on Shap but amazingly, as we dropped down the other side of the hills, it disappeared and the roads were clear. The Penrith groundsmen had obviously worked miracles to get this game on, the resultant pitch was very wet but certainly playable.

Penrith got the better of the early exchanges and went ahead through a penalty after 8 minutes. The remainder of the first half was nip and tuck with both sides trying to play some rugby in the slippy conditions. They went off at half time with Penrith holding onto their slender lead.

The second half was a lot more eventful and it was Leigh who were to take the initiative when scrum half, David Wood, slotted a kick through the Penrith defence for right winger, Ollie Shepherd, to pounce on near the corner flag. The conversion was narrowly missed by Rob Drake.

Penrith responded within 15 minutes when they registered another penalty, which was quickly followed by an unconverted try wide out on the left.

Another Penrith penalty was augmented on 75 minutes by a further unconverted try to make the score Penrith 19 Leigh 5.

However, Leigh were not giving up and fought very hard until the end. They were duly rewarded for their ‘never say die’ attitude when, with two minutes to go, Sean MacDonald followed up his own kick through to ground the ball on the far right for a brilliant individual effort. Final score Penrith 19 Leigh 10.

This was another gallant display from all of the Leigh squad who played their hearts out to the final whistle and they were very unlucky not to pick up a losing bonus point for their efforts.

Next week, Leigh entertain Kirkby Lonsdale at home, who are currently top of the League on 53 points.