Not the best display of the season.

Leigh travelled to Tarleton yesterday, on the back of an encouraging display against Southport, so they must have been quietly confident going into this match.

They did set off very confidently and had the lion's share of possession in the opening exchanges and were soon on the scoresheet, when a good break through the middle was finished off by Prop, Dan Hunter, who backed up well and dummied his way over from about 30 metres out. Matty Rudd stepped up to add the conversion.

This score was quickly added to when, following a very good handling movement involving several players, Jonny Drake found himself in space, to dash over the line from 22 metres out, for a great try which was again converted by Matty Rudd.

The next score came from Eliot Liku, who crashed over following an excellent multi-phase attack down the right wing, where several wonderful offloads were made. Matty Rudd added the conversion from a very difficult angle. Three converted tries in the opening quarter and things were looking good for Leigh.

Tarleton 0 Leigh 21.

Leigh must have thought that this was going to be a runaway victory at this stage but Tarleton obviously had other ideas and soon regrouped to make a very spirited comeback.

They soon registered a well taken, unconverted try in the 22nd minute and this was quickly followed by another unconverted one, 6 minutes later, when they crossed the Leigh line following a rolling maul. An excellent break, in the final play of the first half, saw Tarleton add a third unconverted try, wide out on the right, to take the sides off at the break with Leigh leading by twenty-one points to fifteen.

The second half saw Tarleton keep up the pressure and this resulted in Leigh having three players yellow carded in quick succession, for a range of offences, which gave Tarleton the upper hand. They were soon to take advantage of this imbalance and added a converted try in the fifty-fifth minute to take them into a one-point lead, which they increased to four points, through a penalty in the seventieth minute.

Leigh at this point looked down and out but remarkably worked their way up to the Tarleton end, where, following a series of scrums close to the Tarleton line, they were awarded a penalty, about five metres out. Quick thinking by Eliot Liku saw him take a crafty tap penalty to force his way over, to put Leigh one point in front, with only a minute to go. Matty Rudd narrowly missed with his conversion attempt but fortunately for Leigh, they had done enough to secure the victory and another crucial bonus point, which has kept them in fourth spot in the League.

Final score Tarleton 25 Leigh 26.

Not the best performance of the season but if they can have an off day and still come up with a win it demonstrates the Squad’s steely grit and determination, which has kept them in the running, in what has proved to be a very competitive League this season.

There is no fixture next week but the following week, Saturday 1st February, Leigh entertain 9th placed Winnington Park, at Hand Lane, K.O. 2.15 p.m.