Thorman exposes Leigh's weakness

Leigh 12 - Huddersfield 3

Leigh had confirmed for them what they probably already knew on their first night in Super League - that it is going to be a desperate struggle for them to survive. Huddersfield gave the newcomers a harsh lesson, taking advantage of some glaring errors and defensive frailties for a victory that gives an indication of the hard road ahead for Leigh.

Leigh had confirmed for them what they probably already knew on their first night in Super League - that it is going to be a desperate struggle for them to survive. Huddersfield gave the newcomers a harsh lesson, taking advantage of some glaring errors and defensive frailties for a victory that gives an indication of the hard road ahead for Leigh.

Discipline was another problem area for the home side, with too many soft penalties, one man sin-binned and another sent off. If their coach, Darren Abram, did not realise how much work there is to be done, he surely does now.

The recruitment Leigh have had to do to prepare themselves for life in Super League was illustrated by the way that no fewer than nine players were making their debuts for the club. It is asking a lot for any promoted team to gel quickly with an influx like that, but even more fundamental to a successful first night is having floodlights that work, and there were only minutes to kick-off when Leigh's finally flickered into life.

Huddersfield sparked into life first when play began, Sean Penkywicz's run catching Leigh on the back foot and yielding a penalty from Chris Thorman, soon cancelled out by one from Neil Turley.

Leigh put themselves under immediate pressure when Richard Moore, one of their main signings in the pack, lost the ball on the first tackle of the next set. Huddersfield turned the screw and Thorman's neat reverse pass sent Stanley Gene racing through a scandalously generous gap for the game's first try.

John Wilshere almost replied quickly but was squeezed out at the corner at the end of Leigh's best handling move. The Centurions gave themselves extra problems again when Turley's drop-out failed to travel the requisite 10 metres. The Giants elected to run the ball, a decision vindicated when Penkywicz skipped away from some more weak defence for their second try, with Thorman again landing the conversion and adding a penalty for offside.

The home side's task was greater than ever when Jason Kent was sent to the sin-bin for holding on in the tackle, and they would have been further behind before the break if Gene and Chris Nero had not squandered chances.

It went from bad to worse for Leigh at the start of the second half, when Turley failed to take Brad Drew's high kick and Stuart Jones picked up the loose ball to score. Worse still, their second-rower Oliver Wilkes was sent off 11 minutes into the half for a blatant high tackle on Eorl Crabtree.

Paul White claimed a lovely individual try from a clever kick and chase, with Thorman taking his goal tally to seven to round off a fine all-round performance.

The only small consolation for Leigh was two late tries, their first in Super League scored by Matt Sturm from Jason Ferris's kick with five minutes remaining and their second coming from Rob Smyth in the last minute.

Leigh: Turley; Wilshere, P Jones, Cooper, Smythe; Kent, Duffy; Moore, Rowley, McCurrie, Wilkes, Leafa, Ferris. Substitutes used: R Jackson, Stapleton, King, Sturm.

Huddersfield: Donlan; O'Hare, Evans, Gene, St Hilaire; Thorman, Penkywicz; P Jackson, Drew, Gammon, Nero, S Jones, Roarty. Substitutes used: Reilly, White, Crabtree, Smith.

Referee: I Smith (Oldham).