Liverpool Collegiate 32 v Leigh RUFC 37

Leigh travelled to Aigburth to play Liverpool Collegiate on the back a of a few heavy defeats with the Leigh coaches determined that this would be the turning point.
It was Leighs fly-half, Rob Drake who converted a penalty from midfield to put Leigh in front in the first few minutes, and then a minute later, Westwell finished a move in the corner from a mis-fielded ball.
A few penalties against the Leigh team resulted in a converted try for LC
Further scores for Alex Leadbettter and a bursting run from Frankie Halton put Leigh into a convincing 25-15 lead but yet again Leigh found themselves on the wrong end of the penalty decisions giving away ground to allow LC to finish the half at 25-22
The second half started with LC on the attack and Leigh were soon losing 25-27
The referee warned Leigh over the number of infringements and they were quickly reduced to 14 men as he used the sin-bin to back up his remarks.
A driving effort by Conner O'Neill through the centre of the field, and a quick offload to Glenn Stevens lead to a score under the posts to put Leigh back into the lead.
With nine minutes left a thrilling series of attacking thrusts from both hosts and visitors were on display as both teams went for the win.
A fantastic move in the centre of the field that moved across to the left wing ended with Aspen scoring the winning try before LC came back strongly and scored with the last play of the game.

It proved the decisive moment of a topsy-turvy contest that left the Leigh director of rugby, Karl Lawrinson, with mixed feelings. “I don’t know whether to be dismayed at the situations that we placed ourselves into or relieved that we had the ability to dig deep and get back into the match, having watched the team play some outstanding rugby only to allow the opposition back into the game with needless penalties. Securing the win was priority and the bonus point moved the team to the top half of the league. The second and thirds also won so we’ve had a good day all around.”

Next week we host Hoylake with the last 15:00 kick off before the clocks go back.

Match Scores by Terry Gorman