Bus lane series leveled

Despite a decent start, a poor first half handed Leigh the spoils in this eagerly awaited return fixture.

Plenty was said beforehand, but given this performance, it fell on deaf ears, apart from possibly two or three, has Tyldesley played anything but the structure set out, whereas Leigh handled the conditions far better, played the better rugby overall and deserved their win.

However, the game had several talking points, Leigh's first two tries, and Tyldesley’s second, shouldn’t have stood. But the biggest, was Redford’s correct yellow, which Leigh capitalized on well, when surely a yellow should have also been shown to a Leigh player, after a disagreement broke out between several players.

Tyldesley got the score board ticking after just eight minutes, on the back of some excellent ball retention, resulting in a perfectly weighted kick from Dickinson, who then followed through, before touching down; Martin added the extra two.

Leigh came back hard, and after several good plays, which pushed Bongs back, a kick through, was seemingly grounded over the line by the Tyldesley left wing, just before a Leigh player, but the official awarded a try, conversion added.

The game totally turned on its head with just over twenty gone. Three minutes after the card was shown, Leigh capitalized on their man advantage, and crossed for a second try, despite the last pass being forward, conversion missed.

Tyldesley, obviously felt aggrieved, regarding Leigh's first twelve points and the card incident, but there was no arguing with the hosts third try, after great support play and good handling, stretched the visitors, before touching down, conversion added.

With the half all but done, and back too fifteen, Bongs defense switched off, resulting in a forth try beside the posts, giving Leigh a deserved half time lead.

Tyldesley did improve and kept Leigh pointless during the second half, which was the only consolation they could take from this encounter.

Bongs pilled the pressure on Leigh and recorded a second try at the back of a driving maul, through weaver, despite him losing possession just before grounding the ball, nine minutes in, conversion added, which gave the visitors, hope.

Although on the front foot for long spells, Bongs continued poor game management, constantly played into the hands of the hosts, who themselves went down to fourteen, due to a high tackle, with an hour gone.

Unlike their opposition, Tyldesley failed to make the extra man count, and despite pressing hard, they just couldn’t cross the line.

On a plus side, both get too do it all over again next season, which is what the vast majority from both clubs, want.

Thanks must go to Leigh for their hospitality shown.

MOM Matt Soulsby & Rob Cox

Next week
1st Home v Bowden
2nds Away v Chorley