» June 10th 2001
» Town 17 : 18 Leigh

Town came to within 5 minutes of beating the NFP winners Leigh. A great team effort saw Town lead from the 2nd minute until a late try in the 75th from Paul Anderson snatched victory away from the hosts.

The forwards for Town put up a great show and the hard work that they put in, both in attack and defence, prevented Leigh from gaining any momentum or advantage. Matt Sturm received the sponsor's man of the match award after shining throughout the whole match. Fellow forwards Okesene, Hoyles, Samuel, Charlton and Williamson made great contributions and Sice and Savelio also made an impact from the bench.

The backs also played their part, Stott and Hetherington were involved in everything and Wood, Woodcock, Allen, Frazer and Lewthwaite dealt with the Leigh kicking game and held their own both in defence and attack.

Kevin Hetherington put Town into an early lead in the 2nd minute. Leigh were punished for offside on their own 40-metre line. Hetherington elected to kick and slotted the ball over for the first points of the day.

The Cumbrians were forced to defend early on and had to deal with the high kicks from Leigh. In the 9th minute Leigh put a high kick into the Town half. Graeme Lewthwaite came to collect and knocked-on. Leigh had the scrum on the Town 10-metre line. Their defence stood firm and on the last Leigh put in a low grubber kick, were caught offside and relieved the pressure on the Town line.

Matt Sturm drove the ball at the Leigh defence in the 10th minute. The ball was swung out wide to Neil Frazer, but he lost the ball in a one-on-one tackle. A penalty for ripping out the ball in the tackle saw Town under pressure in their own half. A wild pass from Leigh saw the ball go into touch and Town had the scrum on their own 10-metre line.

The Town defence absorbed all the Leigh pressure and in the 18th minute they were awarded a penalty after the visitors were caught offside. The Town forwards took the ball in and then Lynton Stott put a little kick over the Leigh defensive line. The Leigh defence seemed slow to react and Stott chased his kick and reached the ball at around the same time as the defending player. Stott kicked out at the ball which rolled kindly for the supporting John Allen who picked up the ball and crashed over the line in the corner to score. Kevin Hetherington kicked a beautiful touchline conversion to put Town further into the lead.

From the kick-off the ball went out on the full. Town had the possession on the centre spot and used it to great effect. The forwards again driving at the Leigh line. Gary Charlton took the ball and sucked in the defence before releasing Stuart Hoyles with a well-timed pass. The second rower was at full speed when he took the ball and went in from 20 metres out. Kevin Hetherington added the conversion to make the score an astonishing 14-0 against the champions.

The pace of the game was spellbinding. Stott put in a 40/ 20 kick early in the tackle count that had Leigh pinned in their own half. Graeme Lewthwaite was unlucky as he burst through in support and the pass hit him on the head.

Leigh were fighting back and using the kicking game, but were unable to force the mistake from the Town defence. Town were also using the kicking game. Big drives by Sturm, Hoyles and Okesene were getting Town into the Leigh half and Stott and Hetherington were able to put in the testing kicks.

Leigh broke down the Town defence in the 34th minute. Simon Baldwin was allowed to run out wide. He drew the defenders towards him and his nicely timed pass released Andy Fairclough who went in to score from 30-metres out. Simon Svabic added the conversion to reduce the Town lead to a still impressive 14-6.

The dying minutes of the half saw Town still driving at the Leigh defence. Matt Sturm and Gary Charlton were causing panic in the Leigh defence. Owen Williamson was held up close to the line before Steven Wood missed with a drop-goal attempt.

The first set of six in the second half saw Town again applying the pressure. A kick on the last was well chased. Neil Frazer was hauled down without the ball, but the referee waved play on as the ball went dead. This was to have an effect on the match. Leigh used the ball well and five good drives saw them inside the Town half. Leigh elected to kick on the last. The ball bounced in the Town in-goal area. Kevin Hetherington was first to the ball, but he seemed to lose the ball while trying to pick it up. Michael Watts dropped onto the loose ball to score. Simon Svabic added the conversion to make the score 14-12.

Town extended their lead in the 48th minute, being awarded a penalty after the ball was ripped out in the tackle. Mr Oddy moved the penalty 10-metres forward after several Leigh players challenged his decision. Hetherington slotted over the penalty from 40 metres.

On the last tackle in the 60th minute Lynton Stott put over the drop goal after Anthony Samuel had made a great drive to put Town well inside the Leigh half.

A 40/20 kick from Steven Wood in the 64th minute gave Town the scrum on the Leigh 10-metre line. Good work by Sice saw the ball swung out to Matt Sturm who was held up 5 metres out. A forward pass from Town took the pressure off the Leigh defence.

Town were awarded a penalty in the 68th minute after a high tackle on Gary Charlton. Kevin Hetherington missed the kick, but Leigh were forced to dropout off the 20-metre line. Town lost the possession when Lokeni Savelio lost the ball in the tackle.

Both sides were still defending well and mistakes close to the line prevented either side from scoring.

In the 75th minute Willie Swann collected the ball on halfway. He seemed to juggle the ball and struggled to gain control but somehow he managed to pass the ball out to the supporting Paul Anderson who went into to score from 30 metres out after stepping out of two tackles before going in under the posts. Simon Svabic added the conversion to Leigh in front for the first time in the game.

Town nearly snatched the game in the dying minutes. A knock-on on the Leigh 20-metre line saw Town get the scrum. The ball was swung wide to Graeme Lewthwaite who burst down the touchline. The Leigh defence was quickly over to cover and the winger was forced to pass inside to Lynton Stott who was bundled into touch at the corner flag. With hindsight maybe the best option would have been to have used the set of six and then go for the drop goal to get the draw.

Team
Town: Steven Wood, Matthew Woodcock, Neil Frazer, John Allen, Graeme Lewthwaite, Kevin Hetherington, Lynton Stott, Matt Sturm, Owen Williamson, Hitro Okesene, Stuart Hoyles, Anthony Samuel, Gary Charlton.
Subs: Scott Chilton, Lokeni Savelio, Carl Sice, David Humes

Attendance: 1142
Referee: Nick Oddy