Leigh beat Sheffield to win Northern Rail Cup final

Leigh won the Northern Rail Cup for a fourth time with a 43-28 victory over Championship rivals Sheffield.

The Centurions ran in 27 unbroken points in a blistering final 25 minutes as they blew away the Eagles in front of 4,179 at The Shay in Halifax.

A try late in the first half brought Leigh within two points of the Eagles at the break, and it was soon levelled up at 16-16, before a brawl saw a man from either side sent off, no doubt contributing to the frenetic pace in the final half hour.

Leigh found themselves 24-22 down with 20 minutes to play, but masterfully led by man of the match Martin Ridyard, took the trophy home.

Sheffield were slow out the blocks, and Leigh were probably disappointed that come the 10 minute mark, they only had a Ridyard penalty goal to show for their efforts.

It was left to Matt Garside to lift the Eagles, backing himself to score the game’s opening try on the end of a flowing move. His piercing run then got Mark Aston’s men on the front foot again, as they looked to get a hold on the game.

They turned down two kick-able penalties before Pat Walker‘s kick was taken and offloaded by Menzie Yere for Scott Turner to score in the corner, only for video referee Ian Smith to correctly judge that Yere had knocked on.

That relieved Leigh, and having soaked up a spell of pressure, they forced back-to-back sets when a frantic last tackle play saw the ball change hands on several occasions, and earned a penalty for a late shot.

They shifted the ball right, and Ryan Brierley’s superb short ball sent Stuart Littler crashing over.

Undeterred, Dominic Brambani twice forced good field position for Sheffield with kicks, and after Andy Thornley‘s knock-on, a purposeful run by Quentin Laulu-Togagae got the Eagles close, and Yere’s sheer brute force got him over from dummy half to put them 10-8 in front.

Brambani then had a hand in the Eagles third try. Rushed on the last, he ran it right, and found Tom Armstrong who cut inside, and kicked on. Misi Taulapapa chased, got their first and hacked it on, before diving on the ball over the line. The video referee checked it, awarded the try, and Sheffield had a two-score lead at 16-8 on the stroke of half time.

But coach Aston had his half-time notes ripped up in the final minute of the half, as Joe Hirst knocked on from the kick-off to gift Leigh field position, and Sean Penkywicz‘s well placed grubber kick bounced off the post and in to the hands of Anthony Bate for a try. Ridyard added the extras as the hooter sounded to reduce Leigh’s arrears to 16-14.

They were back level within two minutes of the restart, when Ridyard slotted over a penalty goal from 40 metres after Sheffield had ripped the ball out in a tackle.

A fight then broke out on 47 minutes, which saw each side lose a man each to a red card – Steve Maden for Leigh and Sheffield’s Liam Higgins. Brambani kicked the subsequent penalty to edge Sheffield back in front at 18-16.

But another Eagles mistake from the kick-off meant a drop-out and Gregg McNally, lucky to still be on the field following his involvement in the fracas moments earlier, showed great hands to put Gardner through, only for the ex-Widnes man to be denied in the corner by a superb try-saving tackle from Laulu-Togagae.

It became a double blow for Leigh, as in the opposite corner, Turner did what Gardner couldn’t, carrying a Leigh man over the line on his back in the act of scoring on the far side.

That gave Sheffield an eight point cushion at 24-16, and they looked to turn the screw.

Gardner cut short an Eagles attack with an interception to set up some field position for Leigh, and dual-registered Wigan forward Tom Spencer spun over from Bob Beswick‘s sharp pass close to the line.

Cheered on by their vociferous supporters, Leigh looked to restore parity, and Laulu-Togagae, the hero 10 minutes earlier, spilled Ridyard’s high kick, and a few tackles later, Littler was found in acres of space on the right to score his second try.

The game was Leigh’s for the taking, and they were camped in the Eagles half, and took advantage when former Halifax hooker Sean Penkywicz, back on his old stomping ground, darted over from dummy half to put the Centurions 30-24 to the good.

Sheffield had no answer to the Leigh advances, and they were left needing two scores when Brierley calmly slotted over a drop goal with eight minutes to play.

Late tries from Brierley, backing up from Tommy Goulden‘s break, and Goulden himself put the icing on the cake for Leigh, as they won the Northern Rail Cup for the second time in three years.

Sheffield centre Armstrong scored the final try, right on the hooter, but it was cup woe for a second successive week for the Eagles, following their Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to London last time out.