Leigh 30-0 Huddersfield: Centurions shut-out Giants

Match Stats

Leigh tries: Higson (15), Acton (37), Tickle (72), Reynolds (80), Hopkins (80)
Conversions: Reynolds (15, 37, 73, 80, 80)

Match Report

Leigh Centurions picked up their second win of the Betfred Super League season with a 30-0 shut-out of Huddersfield Giants.

The win means Leigh have already won as many games as they did in the entire 2005 season, their last in the top flight.

Half-back Ben Reynolds scored a try and kicked five goals while it was an unhappy first return to the Sports Village for Huddersfield half-back Ryan Brierley, who scored 133 tries for the Centurions before moving to the Giants.

Huddersfield coach Rick Stone gave Jermaine McGillvary a surprise start in the centres after fears he would be out for up to six weeks after suffering a torn quad against Wakefield last month.

Huddersfield dominated the early exchanges but were thwarted by a combination of handling errors and some desperate Leigh defence. Leroy Cudjoe was held up over the Leigh tryline in the 10th minute before a kick to the in-goal area from Kruise Leeming just ran dead with his team-mates in hot pursuit.

They were made to pay for missing those chances as Leigh scored with their first real attack of note. The ball was quickly worked to the right edge, with Reynolds and Ryan Hampshire combining before Ben Crooks found winger Adam Higson to score in the corner. Reynolds converted from the touchline to give Leigh a 6-0 lead.

Five minutes before half-time, Josh Drinkwater's delicate kick was cleared dead and from the drop-out, Leigh set up the second try - Jamie Acton somehow reaching out of the tackle to ground the ball from Eloi Pelissier's short pass.

Reynolds again added the goal but was not as lucky with a long-range drop goal attempt moments before half-time.

Huddersfield started the second half brightly but they were continually thwarted by some outstanding Leigh defence.

With just over a quarter of the game remaining, both sides were reduced to 12 men when Huddersfield's Sebastiane Ikahihifo was guilty of hitting out at Pelissier. Centurions forward Acton was also sent to the sin bin for getting involved in the aftermath.

With the game slipping away from Huddersfield, Leigh capitalised with a third try when a kick to the in-goal was pounced on by Harrison Hansen with Huddersfield's Lee Gaskell apparently content to let the ball roll dead. Reynolds added the conversion to make it 18-0.

Centurions piled more misery on the Giants when Reynolds shot through a gap in the defence to score a try he also converted and with time almost up, Sam Hopkins charged over from 20 metres for a try which Reynolds again converted to complete a 30-0 win.

Match Reaction

Leigh coach Neil Jukes: "We needed to be aggressive in defence and we showed some good line speed and good contact.

"We came up with some big plays defensively and when we did things right we made things look very easy.

"We showed great desire in our defence - we had to be on the money against a team like Huddersfield who are full of proven Super League, NRL and international players.

"There is something good growing within the team and wins like tonight give us a lot of belief as we continue on our journey."

Huddersfield coach Rick Stone: "I'm disappointed with the performance but not the effort. There was a big difference between the teams in terms of execution, especially on the last plays.

"I thought Leigh built pressure pretty well. We were a little bit impatient and tried to force the issue.

"The game was in the balance for much of the game and I don't think 30-0 was a fair reflection on the game but Leigh deserved their win.

"It was a good, tough contest. We tried to play around them too much in the first half rather than go through them. But that's fixable."