In a 10 a side match up, the game had all the hall marks of an exciting contest as the speed of play and utilisation of the space saw two teams go tooth and nail for the victory.

The visitors started the brighter with a few ventures in the Leigh 22. One such occasion bore the first try of the game.

A long clearance kick was returned with interest as a mazy run from the appropriately named Maisie Webb saw her beat 5 defenders down the left side to score the first points of the match.

Leigh disappointed at the performance in the early stages went on the attack and to devastating effect. They controlled the rest of the first half possession and scored 4 tries in the process.

Visiting Littleborough could not stop a bigger Leigh side and their impressive offloading and game. At the breakdown they were generating such quick ball, I think many teams would struggle to gain the advantage.

Nevertheless, Littleborough never gave up and dug deep to reply to 2 more tries from Leigh. A strong dart from the 15 metres out by fly half Erin Stott saw them pick up some reward for a challenging afternoons work.

Despite having 2 tries disallowed the home side would finish the game strongly with a brace. Both teams were expectedly tiring in a very fluid and intense game.

For Littleborough a tough afternoon was not all wasted as there was some shining performances and positives to take into the cup game on this coming weekend.

It was some of the same on the very next field of play as Littleborough U15's were pegged back from the good start by Leigh Under 15's.

A close range try from Ellie Fitzgerald gave the visitors a slender lead before the strong visitors hit back with a couple of tries.

Littleborough regained control and had some possession to trouble the home side. Unfortunately they were unable to break through as Leigh held firm.

Taking advantage of Boro's missed opportunity, Leigh went on to score another two towards the end of the half.

Whatever Boro coach Sarah Mansfield and the girls talked through at half time worked wonders as the girls came out and dominated the second half.

A try from Tilda Robinson-Burgess as well as a second for Ellie Fitzgerald saw the forwards make a real impact for the visitors.

This was then matched in equal measure as Leigh scored 3 of their own in between an exquisite try from Littleborough winger Mollie Yates. A certain contender for try of the weekend saw the electric speedster leave defenders in her wake as she powered home from the half way line. Her forceful grounding and celebration showed how much it meant to put her team in with a chance to trying to snatch something.

Nevertheless, Leigh managed to stifle and smother any smouldering resistance to finish the victors from a bruising encounter. Littleborough will hope to take an improved second half performance into their first home game in 8 weeks as they host Liverpool St Helens at Rakewood on Sunday afternoon.

Another slow start for the Under 13’s at Broughton Park saw the home side take an early lead.

In the blink of an eye they had scored two tries from some soft defence. Partly down to playing with some new players from Ashton giving the girls little time to gel and partly down to playing on a bigger than usual pitch, the Under 13's had their backs to the wall.

The Pink Warriors came back into the game stealing some ball in the ruck and the girls started knocking their opponents backwards.

Kady Hoyle got over the white wash which then lead to the two sides trading tries leaving it 3-2 to Broughton with five mins of the half to go.

A further try apiece in the following 5 mins saw Mia Wright burst clear to score and leave the girls trailing 4-3 at half time.

Littleborough's Under 13's had learnt the lessons of a slow start of the first half and made sure it was not repeated at the start of the second half. Two quickfire scores from Niamh Clegg and another from Lucy Gregg took Boro into a well deserved lead.

Again another period of play saw each team swap 5 points. This time Aaliyah Buxton crossed for the visitors.

Broughton didn’t lie down and came back at the girls to restore their lead and hang on to the final whistle. Victory that was all but assured became a defeat by the narrowest of margins.

Post match consensus was hugely upbeat and defiant as had they not started to run out of steam in the end with Broughton being able to rely on fresh legs throughout the match, the result could have been very difficult.

One thing is for certain these girls are turning into a difficult team to play and their understanding of the game and laws is matched by no one.