Brave Centurions denied
Catalan Dragons survived a mighty scare at Leigh before claiming their place in the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
Last Updated: 06/05/11 10:03pm
Catalan Dragons survived a mighty scare at Leigh before claiming their place in the fifth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
Ian Millward's previously unbeaten Centurions stormed ahead at Leigh Sports Village with early tries from Adam Higson and Tommy Goulden against the Super League's in-form Dragons.
The Dragons were shaken but dug deep to hit back through Damien Blanch and Jean-Philippe Baile and inched into a decisive lead with further scores from Cyril Stacul and Ian Henderson.
Stuart Donlan pulled one back at the death as Leigh set up a tense climax, but the French side held on.
Leigh opened the scoring with just five minutes gone after a 40-20 kick from Jamie Ellis put Catalan under pressure.
Higson ran in out wide after good passes from the lively Martyn Ridyard and Donlan in the build-up.
The Dragons lost Ben Farrar to injury and worse followed as Leigh swept forward again to increase their advantage with a second try on 12 minutes.
The highly-rated Chris Hill offloaded superbly under pressure and Donlan took up the attack.
The full-back's pass for John Duffy went to ground but referee James Child allowed play to continue and Goulden pounced to score behind the posts.
The Centurions could have added to their lead but one chance was lost as James Taylor passed out of play and another as Dean McGilvray stepped on the touchline.
The Dragons finally got a foothold in the match after 25 minutes as Scott Dureau and Sebastien Raguin combined to put Blanch over in the corner.
Ridyard edged Leigh further ahead with a penalty but were then caught out as the Dragons pulled themselves right back into the game on the stroke of half-time.
Henderson's long pass was too good for the defence and Baile strode over in the corner.
Scuffle
A scuffle broke out after he touched down and Child awarded the Dragons a penalty, meaning Dureau had two kicks at goal. He missed the conversion but succeeded with the second attempt from in front of the posts to cut the deficit to 12-10 at the interval.
Catalan started the second period strongly and went ahead for the first time when Stacul weaved his way through the defence and Thomas Bosc converted.
But Leigh were not about to fold and twice went close, as Ridyard and Stuart Littler forced the Dragons to scramble back. Hill was then stopped just short and a Duffy kick bobbled over the dead ball line.
Donlan found his way over with four minutes remaining to set up a thrilling finale but the Dragons survived.
