Dewsbury Rams 31 Leigh Centurions 16 IAN Millward took his first Leigh defeat on the chin, rolled with the punch and then came out fighting.

The Centurions coach was plainly disappointed by Leigh's error-strewn first 40 minutes that saw the Rams sweep into a 25-4 lead - but at the turnround was still backing his side to pull the match out of the fire.

And they very nearly did - only Paul Medley's stoppage time try dousing the Leigh fire.

"Most of our wounds were self-inflicted," complained Millward. "Dewsbury didn't have to work too hard for a couple of their first half tries. "But even at 25-4 down I was confident that we could turn it round; difficult but achievable. Even 10 minutes from time we were in there with a shout. But it's then the team showed their inexperience. At vital times they panicked or had too many negative thoughts but the important thing is that we're still making progress. We've lost a battle, not the war."

Millward was convinced that the side that made best use of the elements - driving sleet and a roaring gale - would take the money.

And that's just how it panned out. Dewsbury, Northern Ford Premiership second favorites, almost exclusively dominating the first half with Leigh showing they are made of sterner stuff these days and making a real fight of it in the second. As Millward rightly pointed out, Leigh were their own worst enemies in the first 40; three times coming up with individual errors that directly led to tries.

Stuart Donlan, Phil Kendrick and Tim Street all dropped clangers as Leigh were punished by tries from Nathan Graham (2), Adrian Flynn and Paul Evans with Barry Eaton adding four goals and Richard Agar a field goal.

Alan Hadcroft pulled it back to 4-6 with a forceful try in the corner and had referee Peter Gilmour done the right thing and allowed advantage, a John Costello 'try' at the side of the posts would probably have made it 10-18. Instead Leigh found themselves 19 points adrift at half time.

It was one of Leigh's lesser lights who provided the spark for the fightback.

Half-back Scott Hilton, plagued by injury for most of last year, returned to senior action and made an immediate impact.

Hilton, a 48th minute replacement, gave Leigh's attack a sharper cutting edge. He'd only been on for seven minutes when he supported an Anthony Murray break and sprinted clear to the posts for a try improved by Kendrick. Although Leigh enjoyed the territorial advantage, Dewsbury still had the firepower to pose more of a threat running into the elements than the Centurions had before the break.

Eight minutes from time the unlikely looked on. Andy Fairclough dummied his way over for a try wide out and Kendrick thumped over a magnificent touchline goal to put Leigh within striking distance at 16-25.

But their worst enemy was the clock; time slipping away in a frantic finish that saw the Rams break out and settle their nerves with a close range try from Medley deep into stoppage time. Yet despite Leigh's obvious disappointment at losing their unbeaten record, the overall feeling is still one of progress. And with talent such as Dean, Cruickshank, Wingfield and Kennedy still sitting in the stands, things can only get better.

LEIGH: Donlan; Arkwright, Kendrick, Hadcroft, Ingram; Patel, Purtill; Street, Murray, Whittle, Parr, Liku, Fairclough. Subs (all used): Costello, Jenkins, Wingfield C, Hilton. Attendance: 1,314.

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