LML Open The Season In Style

16 April 2018

What a great win for the Leigh Miners Ladies against a strong Widnes side.

Leigh Miners Ladies 28 – Widnes Vikings Ladies 20

Leigh opened up their championship season with a 28-20 victory over the newly formed Widnes side.

The game was closely fought throughout and played in front of an appreciative crowd of approximately 200. Leigh opened the scoring in the fifth minute, having worked the ball to the right edge, they spread the ball across the width of the pitch allowing Kellie Gray to score on the left edge.

The game became very tight with both teams completing well, and it took a piece of brilliance from Widnes’s Sammy Simpson who picked up the ball deep in her own half, ran across the pitch, rounded the Leigh defence and sprinted down the touchline to level the scores.

Leigh finished the first half the stronger, a repeat of the earlier scoring play saw Kellie Gray score again. Miners extended the lead further, they broke from deep in their own half, and some slick handling saw them pulled down just short of the line, they maintained their composure, with Vicky Rosevere claiming the try to make the half time score Leigh 12 – Widnes 4.

The opening stages of the second half were clearly going to have a big influence on the remainder of the game, and it was Widnes who opened the scoring with a second try from Sammy Simpson. Leigh extended their lead, with Celia Farrimond collecting a neat inside ball to cross the line unopposed, Leanne Johnson added the conversion to take the score to 18-8.

Miners added more points on the hour mark when sixteen year old debutant Eleanor Dainty was on the end of another good passing move, driving over the line. Leanne Johnson tagged on the two points to take the score to 24-8.

Widnes could easily have given up at this stage, but took the game to Leigh scoring three unconverted tries in quick succession, leaving the game finely balanced at 24-20, entering the final few minutes.

Leigh settled the game with the final play of the game with Catherine Watt picking up from the play the ball and diving over the line to make the final score 28-20.

After the match, both coaches praised the commitment of the two sides, the Leigh coaching staff picked out Sammy Simpson, who scored four tries for Widnes as their player of the match. The Widnes coaches selected half back Mairead Quinn, who moved the Leigh team round the field well all afternoon as player of the match, they also praised the performances of Kellie Gray and Kath Organ.

Next week, the ladies continue their season with a trip to Oulton.

Their next home fixture is scheduled for Sunday 20th May when they face Stanningley.

Leigh Miners Ladies would like to thank AB Sundecks and Cal Sameday for their kind sponsorship.