Another much changed Leigh side goes down to second placed Manchester.

Leigh travelled to Cheadle Hulme yesterday to face second placed Manchester with yet another much changed side, due to injuries or unavailability.

Olly Reffell, Matty Rudd and Kieran Seddon returned to First Team action and young centre Daniel Evans, was drafted in to make his First Team debut.

Leigh knew that given so many changes to the Squad that their task would be an uphill one but every player yesterday gave it their all until the final whistle and they all deserve praise for their unstinting efforts.

Manchester went ahead in the tenth minute through a converted, pushover try but Leigh’s first real touch of the ball drew them level on twenty minutes, when an excellent line break by Jonny Drake found Chris Cowley, in close support for him, in turn, to feed the ever hungry Jamie King, on his inside for him to scoot over, for a well taken try under the Manchester crossbar, which was easily converted by Eliot Liku.

Manchester responded within minutes, through a well-constructed try of their own, when their two centres combined, for Joe Williams to go over for a well-deserved, unconverted try which took the sides off at the break, with Manchester leading by twelve points to seven.

Constant pressure by Manchester saw them add a converted try, in the forty eighth minute but a yellow card awarded against a Leigh player, in the fifty fifth minute, was to cost them dearly.

Whilst Leigh were down to fourteen men, Manchester added two more converted tries, to stretch their lead to twenty-six points with the score at thirty-three points to seven.

A final unconverted try, by Manchester, in the final play of the game, took Manchester off worthy winners by thirty-eight points to seven.

Despite the scoreline, this was another creditable and gutsy performance by the Leigh Squad, with Matty Rudd, Jonny Drake, Jamie King, Chris Cowley and Eliot Liku being the pick of the crop yesterday.

Next game is Sefton away on 4th January K.O. 2.15 p.m.