Rams slip to defeat at Leigh

Dewsbury Rams produced a hard-working performance in their final warm-up game before slipping to a 36-4 defeat away to Leigh Centurions last Sunday.
Lucas Walshaw finished off a neat Dewsbury Rams move for his sides only score away to Leigh Centurions last Sunday.Lucas Walshaw finished off a neat Dewsbury Rams move for his sides only score away to Leigh Centurions last Sunday.
Lucas Walshaw finished off a neat Dewsbury Rams move for his sides only score away to Leigh Centurions last Sunday.

The Rams posed problems for a strong Leigh outfit and only trailed 10-4 at half-time before the Super League new comers pulled clear after the break with five unanswered tries.

Lucas Walshaw produced a fine tackle to deny Ryan Hampshire an early try, while more impressive defence by the visitors saw David Thompson thwarted.

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The Centurions opened their account when Ben Reynolds and Hampshire linked to put James Clare over at the corner.

James Green reacted first when a kick rebounded off a Rams defender and he sent Willie Tonga barging over from close range, with Reynolds converting.

Hamish Barnes almost replied for Dewsbury when he gathered a dangerous Paul Sykes kick only to be tackled short of the line.

Dewsbury continued to cause the Centurions problems and they were rewarded just before half-time when Sykes fed Walshaw and he finished expertly for an unconverted try.

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Reynolds and Lewis Foster combined to sent Mitch Brown over for Leigh’s third try two minutes after the re-start but Dewsbury continued to show promising signs and winger Donald Kudangirana had an excellent chance but was tackled into touch.

Loose forward Matty Dawson nipped over from close range before second row Atelea Vea grabbed two quickfire tries to put Leigh in control.

Vea gathered a crossfield kick to grab his first after 55 minutes and then collected Dayne Weston’s pass for his second on the hour as the Centurions extended their lead to 30-4.

Sam Hopkins stormed over from 20 metres out for Leigh’s seventh try five minutes from time and Hampshire landed his second conversion to seal his side’s victory.

There were plenty of positives for Glenn Morrison’s side to take as they plan for Sunday’s opening match of the new Kingstone Press Championship season away to newly promoted Rochdale Hornets.