Patched up Leigh Centurions battled gamely but finally succumbed to high flying Celtic Crusaders in this Cooperative National One clash at Hilton Park.
With Anthony Stewart and Steve Maden's wives going into labour just hours before kick off and Aaron Smith suffering a bad back before Dave Alstead went down with flu, Neil Kelly was forced to ship in a couple of youngsters to bolster his side. But they did not let him down, and although the side did suffer from a little bit of naivety and frustration a couple of times during the game, they made Celtic Crusaders fight all the way for the victory that keeps them hot on the heels of the First Division pacesetters.
Former Leigh Miners man, Adam Higson was given his first team debut, whilst John Cookson and Chris Hill were drafted out of the Reserves that had played 24 hours earlier, and asked to do it all again.
Yet despite these set backs, the side opened strongly and although a fourth minute penalty was all that the side had to show for their huge efforts, they did dominate the first 25 minutes.
Lee Doran and Dennis Moran were constantly threatening and with Mike Morrison, Dave McConnell and Gareth Price busy, Leigh desperately wanted something more than just territory to give their fans to cheer.
But as so often happens, when Celtic put in their first real attack, they grabbed a score when Damian Quinn put in the kick and Luke Dyer leapt the highest to snatch the ball and touch down for an unconverted try.
It signalled the start of Celtic's domination as Quinn charged in for a second Celtic try , again ungoaled before the vastly experienced Josh Hannay linked with Dyer to put Tony Duggan in for a that Mark Lennon goaled with half time approaching.
But Leigh refused to lie down and when Ian Watson put in James Taylor, Leigh were far from out of this game despite trailing 14-6 at the break.
Chris hill led the charge at the start of the second half and was unfortunate not to score when forcing the Celtic defence to rally and deny him, but as the pressure mounted, Lee Marsh crashed through the defence off a Watson pass for another ungoaled try to close the gap to four points.
Yet within four minute, Leigh had conceded again as Quinn put in Duggan for Lennon to goal, and then Hannay grabbed a further Celtic try. When Mark Dalle Court used his strength, size and power to create room for former Leigh winger Paul Ballard to cross , it looked all over for Leigh.
But again they rallied as Moran created uncertainty in the visitors defence and the strong running Lee Doran grabbed a well deserved try that Ian Mort goaled.
Ballard claimed his second try on 64 minutes and Duggan grabbed a third for him to complete a well taken hat trick, before Lennon slotted over a field goal. But Leigh had the final word with Higson getting a debut try to give the home fans something to cheer.



Leigh Centurions


1 Dennis Moran

2 Chris Giles

3 Dale Cunniffe

4 Mark Roberts

5 Ian Mort

6 Lee Marsh

7 Ian Watson

8 Mike mOrrison9 Dave McConnell

10 Gareth Price

11 James Taylor

12 Lee Doran

13 Mike Wainwright

Subs all used

14 Adam Higson

15 Adam Thomas

16 Chris Hill

17 John Cookson



Tries: Taylor (4), Marsh (44), Doran (59), Higson (78)

Goals; Watson 1/3, Mort 2/2



Celtic Crusaders



1 Tony Duggan

2 Paul Ballard

3 Josh Hannay

4 Marke Dalle Court

5 Luke Dyer

6 Damien Quinn

7 Mark Lennon

8 Jordan James

9 Neil Budworth

10 Gareth Dean

11 Chris Beasley

12 Darren Mapp

13 Neale Wyett

subs all used

14 Ian Webster

15 Aaron Summers

16 Jamie L'Anson

17 David Tangata-Toa



Tries: Dyer (28), Quinn (34), Duggan (37, 48, 74), Hannay (52), Ballard (57,64),

Goals: Lennon 6/8

Drop Goals: Lennon 1



Half time 6-15

Referee: Gareth Hewer

Attendance 2,503



end