Halifax’s run of success brought to emphatic end at Leigh’s hands

The home side, beaten heavily by their visitors in pre-season, were utterly dominant for half an hour, but trailed 10-6 at the break before slipping badly off the pace in the second period.

Halifax coach Karl Harrison made half-a-dozen changes to the team that breezed past South Wales Scorpions in the Carnegie Challenge Cup, with full-back Ryan Fieldhouse, winger Wayne Rettie, half-back Anthony Thackeray and forwards Jim Gannon, Luke Ambler and Adam Robinson all returning. Halifax dominated early possession after Leigh spilled the ball on the first tackle.

They finally made it count when loose forward Craig Ashall pounced on a short kick from hooker Sean Penkywicz to score between the posts.

Centre Steve Tyrer kicked the conversion and should have been lining up another but a pass to Thackeray ended on the ground.

It took Leigh almost half an hour to secure a foothold in Halifax territory, but they made it count with two tries in four minutes.

Full-back Gregg McNally slipped through to score in the corner and then the veteran half-back John Duffy darted over, stand off Martyn Ridyard’s conversion giving his side a scarcely believable 10-6 half-time lead. The visitors stretched their advantage when half-back Ryan Brierley pounced on Ridyard’s kick, the stand-off kicking the goal for a 16-6 lead.

When McNally pounced for a second, the visitors were 22-6 ahead and looking good.

Tries from Mat Gardner and Brierley sealed a comfortable victory, with late scores for Halifax from Reittie and Heaton, both converted by Tyrer, little or no consolation.

Halifax: Fieldhouse; Reittie, Tyrer, Heaton, White; Handforth, Thackeray; Gannon, Penkywicz, Ambler, Manning, Robinson, Ashall. Substitutes: Casey, Divorty, Hesketh, Aizue

Leigh: McNally; Maden, Littler, Gardner, Pownall; Ridyard, Duffy; Ostick, Beswick, Parker, Laithwaite, Goulden, Briscoe. Substitutes: Brierley, Spencer, Hopkins, Gallagher.

Referee: G Stokes.