Ever improving Leigh run third placed Glossop close.

Leigh welcomed promotion-chasing Glossop to Hand Lane yesterday and knew that they would be up against a team of big, hard running forwards. They were correct, Glossop played in a very physical and direct style and it was this well proven strategy that eventually won them the match.

After ten minutes of quite intense Glossop pressure, Leigh were the first to score from a searing break by Alex Leadbetter, inside the Leigh half, who found Johnny Drake on his outside, for him to scorch away, from thirty five metres out, for a cracking try, converted by his brother, Rob.

This was quickly followed, by an excellent break by Johnny Drake, five minutes later, who returned the compliment by putting away Alex Leadbetter down the right wing, who used his superior pace to outstrip the Glossop defence and go over for a spectacular try, which was brilliantly converted, from wide out, by Rob Drake.

Glossop rallied and were rewarded with a penalty try, for an unfortunate collar high tackle (which earned the Leigh player a yellow card) in the twenty fifth minute but Leigh extended their lead through a well struck, Rob Drake penalty, from thirty five metres out, two minutes later.

Glossop rallied again and after several phases of play close to the Leigh line, they were awarded their second penalty try of the game, this time for an indiscretion in the scrum, which again resulted in a Leigh player spending ten minutes in the bin.

A brilliantly struck Rob Drake penalty, from the half way line followed by another cracker from forty two metres out, took Leigh up to twenty three points but Glossop narrowed the deficit again, just before half time, when they crossed for an unconverted try, wide out on the right wing.

Half Time Leigh 23 Glossop 19.

Leigh came out at the start of the second half with all guns blazing and were quick to add to their tally, following a length of the field move, which eventually saw the ball shipped from the left wing to the right, where Johnny Drake streaked away for a very well constructed, unconverted try – arguably the best scored by Leigh all season.

Glossop then realized that the way to win this match would be to keep the ball tight and away from the Leigh backs, who were ripping them to shreds with whatever ball came their way.

Forward domination for the next ten minutes saw Glossop add two converted tries to their tally and this took them into a seven point lead.

However, Leigh stemmed the tide, for a while and came back down the field themselves. An excellent long ball from prop, Wayne McCabe, found Ollie Shepherd, out wide on the left, for him to outpace the Glossop defence and athletically dive over, like a salmon, by the corner flag, for an amazing finish, which was equally amazingly converted, from the touchline, by Rob Drake.

35 – 33.

A lucky interception by Glossop (unlucky for Leigh) allowed them to race away from forty five metres, to recapture the lead and another converted try by them, with five minutes to go, proved enough to secure them a well earned victory.

Final score Leigh 35 Glossop 47.

This proved to be another excellent display by this ever improving, young Leigh squad and the building blocks all seem to be in place for next season’s campaign, which should, hopefully, see them finish in a much higher position in the League Table.

The Club would like to say a massive thank you and ‘au revoir’ to Ollie Shepherd and Kieran Duffy, who will be leaving the Club at the end of this season, due to work relocations. May we wish them both well in their endeavours and hope that they will both be able to come back and resume their rugby careers at Leigh in the not too distant future, they will both be more than welcome.

Next week, Leigh are scheduled to play second placed Anselmians, at Hand Lane, K.O. 3 p.m. but the date of this fixture may yet change, so please watch out for any updates on this website.