Boyle cruelly denied his ‘hat trick’ in magnificent home win.

After heavy rain overnight, the pitch at Hand Lane was full of standing water on Saturday morning but thanks to a monumental effort by a bunch of volunteers, the pitch was finally declared playable for this very crucial fixture for both Clubs – a victory was sorely needed by each of them.

The game got off to a fast and furious start with both sides determined to throw the ball about and play some decent, attacking rugby.

The game’s opening score came from Chris Boyle, on ten minutes, when he dotted the ball down over the Widnes line following a scrum, five metres out, which was well converted by Elliott Ryan.

The next score was quick to follow, on twelve minutes, when David Wood intercepted the ball and cleverly chipped through for Leigh paceman, Jimmy Wilkinson, to dive onto the ball over the Widnes line, wide out on the left. Elliott Ryan again stepped up to slot the conversion.

Leigh’s ascendancy was to continue for the rest of the half and they were quick to add two more tries before the half time break.

The first came, courtesy of Rob Drake’s dexterity, when he craftily put Ryan McKinstry through a hole in the Widnes defence, to dive over close to the posts for a try again converted by the trusty left boot of Elliott Ryan. The second came from Ollie Shepherd who attacked the right hand Widnes flank to step and spin his way over for an unconverted try.

Half time Leigh 26 Widnes 0.

The second half saw Widnes make a few changes to their line up but they could not stem the tide and Leigh were soon to add to their tally, when Chris Boyle scored his second try of the match, by popping the ball down over the Widnes line, from the base of a scrum, for another score converted by Elliott Ryan on fifty-five minutes.

The remainder of the half saw both sides throwing caution to the wind and Leigh were very unfortunate not to add at least three more tries to their total.

One was disallowed for a forward pass wide out on the left wing and Chris Boyle was adjudged to have been ‘held up’ twice over the Widnes line, which cruelly denied him a well-deserved hat trick.

Boyle, Middleton-Adams, Morris-Williams, Penn, Drake and David Wood all stood out in this very important victory but to be honest, it really was a very well deserved team triumph.

The standout player for Widnes was their hard working, veteran Centre, Dave Welsh who really worked himself to a standstill in an effort to keep his team in the game.

This crucial, bonus point victory should have all but made Leigh safe from relegation but a much needed victory next week, away to Carlisle, to be played at Wigton, by the way, should be the defining moment.

May I take this opportunity to offer the very best wishes of the Leigh Club to our great friends from Widnes, for next year’s campaign and I hope that they bounce back, within a season, to join us again, hopefully, in North One West.