By Matt Lawton
April 21 2003

Although Leigh's winning margin of only seven points suggests quite a close game, Leigh's lead was never really under any threat as they proved to be a cut above their Cumbrian opponents. Leigh started brightly but were constantly pegged back by an intensely physical start by the Warriors, which quite often spilled into little scuffles as the Leigh players were unhappy with the dangerous tackles and offences that went unpunished by match referee Richard Silverwood. The crowd also felt aggrieved at the Whitehaven tactics and Silverwood's performance, which made for an altogether more charged atmosphere than it has been recently at Hilton Park.

Leigh finally broke Leigh's resistance when former Oldham second rower Bryan Henare continued his recent upturn in performances by going in to the right of the posts to give Leigh the lead. Whitehaven then pulled back two points via a penalty to complete the scoring in the first half which finished with Leigh leading 6-2. The Centurions' half time lead could however have been slightly larger had Alan Hadcroft held onto a Dale Holdstock pass with the line at his mercy shortly after Henare's opener.

The second half saw much of the same with Leigh having most of the attacking play but Whitehaven's defence stood firm. Leigh finally extended their lead when Paul Rowley scooted past the cover to score in the right-hand corner. Leigh then tightened their grip on the game when Dale Holdstock scored his third try in two games to give Leigh a comfortable gap between Whitehaven and themselves.

Jamie Stenhouse pulled back some points, and pride, for 'Haven when he scored to reduce the deficit, only for David Alstead to restore Leigh's lead after a thrilling run from Alan Hadcroft.

Stenhouse scored his second try of the game for the Warriors to give them hope but it was proved to be too little too late for the visitors as the final hooter was sounded as soon as the conversion had been attempted following the try.

A thoroughly professional from Leigh will have pleased their supporters and coach Paul Terzis to give Leigh a 100% rate in the Easter period as they begin their National League One Championship campaign.