Leigh Centurions have to battle back to take the points against Dewsbury

LEIGH Centurions overcame a scoreless first half and a heavy penalty count against them to continue their winning run and notch their 13th win of the season to remain top of the Kingstone Press Championship.

The first 40 minutes was a torrid affair for the Centurions with them unable to apply consistent pressure. Dewsbury opened the scoring after 12 minutes when Kieran Hyde intercepted a Ryan Brierley pass to run 60 metres to score and give full-back Jordan Grayston the conversion attempt that took the Rams into a 6-0 lead.

They added another penalty to make it 8-0 but the turning point came before the break when Matt Haggarty was dismissed for a high tackle.

Liam Kay went over in the corner for a 42nd minute try before quick interchange between Tommy Goulden and Ryan Brierley resulted in the Leigh half-back dashing away to the corner for Martyn Ridyard to goal.

Sean Penkywicz bamboozled the defence for Tom Spencer to finish and then a couple of minutes later his kick led to Kurt Haggerty touching down wide out on the hour.

Ridyard then linked with Brierley for the half-back to claim his second of the game and 24th try of the season. Ridyard also added his fourth goal before the game descended into chaos in the closing stages. Haggerty was sinbinned and the Rams scored a second try through Dale Morton before Jamie Acton was yellow carded in the last minute. Despite the distractions, Leigh defended manfully to secure all three points.