Leigh keep Dewsbury scoreless in huge win
Leigh scored six tries and conceded none to brush Dewsbury aside on Sunday.
Kieron Purtill made two changes to his Leigh side that knocked Batley Bulldogs out of the Challenge Cup last weekend. Ben Reynolds and Greg Richards replaced Ricky Bailey and Bodene Thompson.
Neil Kelly made nine changes to his Dewsbury side that were knocked out of the Challenge Cup at Whitehaven last time out. Josh Guzdek, Macauley Hallett, Dale Morton, Paul Sykes, Jordan Crowther, Chris Annakin, Aaron Brown, Matty English and Shannon Wakeman came in for Jared Simpson, Gareth Potts, Harry Woollard, Danny Ansell, Toby Everett, Dom Speakman, Martyn Reilly, Lucas Walshaw and Kyle Trout.
It was an end to end start to the game at the Leigh Sports Village, with both sides having a number of sets inside the opposition 20-metres. It was Leigh who posted the first points though as Peter Mata’utia handed off a couple of defenders to score. Reynolds converted to put his side in a 6-0 lead after 14 minutes.
The Centurions gained momentum and got on top of the Rams. Harrison Hansen crashed over the line from just a couple of yards out. Reynolds’ conversion saw Leigh 12-0 to the good.
And Leigh were in for another in the 21st minute. Mata’utia got his second as he burst through a gap in the Dewsbury defence from close range. The conversion was on target and Leigh were 18-0 ahead.
Rhys Evans had a chance to score for the hosts late in the first half but he was just short of the line. Leigh were 18-0 up at the break.
There was a brawl at the start of the second half which resulted in Dewsbury’s Gareth Moore and Leigh’s Matty Dawson-Jones and Reynolds being sent to the sin bin.
Leigh extended their lead in the 50th minute. Mata’utia got a sublime offload away to Kyle Lovett who touched down. Jack Owens converted to put the Centurions 24-0 ahead.
A fourth yellow card was dished out when Rams forward Chris Annakin committed a professional foul on Micky Higham.
Lovett got his second after Leigh opened up the Dewsbury defence. Owens added the extras, Leigh 30-0 Dewsbury.
The try of the game came in the 57th minute. Ben Crooks got on the end of a fine grubber from Reynolds. The conversion was good and the Centurions were in a 36-0 advantage after an hour.
The game fizzled out towards the end as Leigh clinched their second win in a row with a convincing 36-0 demolition over Dewsbury at home.
Leigh: 4 Mata’utia; 2 Dawson-Jones, 3 Crooks, 5 Evans, 19 Owens; 6 Reynolds, 7 Hutchison; 8 Vaivai, 14 Hood, 18 Mason, 13 Hansen, 17 Lovett, 21 Gregson. Subs: 30 Higham, 26 Dezaria, 20 Richards, 15 J Thompson.
Dewsbury: 1 Guzdek; 2 Worrincy, 3 Glover, 4 Hallett, 5 Morton; 6 Sykes, 7 Moore; 8 Sherrife, 9 Ward, 10 Teanby, 20 Crowther, 12 Knowles, 26 Annakin. Subs: 19 Day, 13 Brown, 23 English, 24 Wakeman.
Starman: Peter Mata’utia was a class above all afternoon.
Attendance: 3,136