Panthers exhibited passion, determination and a willingness to continually move the ball wide at pace. Leigh on the other hand will need to make major improvements if they are to claim their second win of the season against Widnes when the teams meet next week. “The win was good” said Shaw, after the game. “But like I said to the players, there’s a lot to work on and we are still well under par.. It was a very stop start game and it was difficult with the amount of penalties to get any kind of cohesion.”

It had been very clear from early on that Leigh were not going to have everything their own way. Panthers defended resolutely, but as they threw everything into defence, errors crept into their game and a string of penalties allowed Leigh to edge downfield and eventually opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Adam Reid darted over the line. Ian Watson converted and suddenly things looked ominous for the hosts.

Undeterred, Blackpool clawed themselves back into the game, however, and the excellent Casey Mayberry powered through a couple of tackles on the right to score on 13 minutes. They then took the lead just three minutes later after good work from Lee Marsh sent in Carl Jones, Marsh converted. But, stunned into action, Leigh’s superior quality began to show.
Relying on their big ball carriers to make hard yards, they regained the lead midway through the first half then Andy Hobson crashed over after a neat inside pass from Aaron Smith, Watson again converting. Steve Madden made the score more comfortable at the break, capping a long spell of pressure with a try converted by Watson, 18-10. Burt it was far from straightforward for Centurions after the break. They did go 30-10 ahead after Mike Wainwright and Madden both powered over the line, Watson adding the extras on both occasions, but Blackpool continued to give Leigh a stern test. A lovely little grubber kick from Martin Gambles allowed the dangerous Mayberry to grab his second try of the afternoon, Marsh again converting. Blackpool continued to press right up to the final minute, especially after Nathan McAvoy was sin binned for holding on after the tackle. But they gained no further reward, which their efforts justified, and the visitors added another try with the last play of the game, Dave Astead capitalising on a Blackpool error to score.

Attendance 813 Man of the Match :- Casey Mayberry (Blackpool)