LEIGH RU Hawks had to over come dogged Bolton opposition and heavy conditions at Hand Lane before going to collected a 22-0 win.

Leigh were unable to turn early pressure into points and all they had to show at half time was a Greenwood penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Frustrated with their lack of progress Bolton continued to infringe, resulting in a bad tempered encounter in which the Leigh side refused to back down, resulting in several skirmishes and an unstructured half of rugby.

Leigh continued to apply the pressure and the Bolton defence cracked as they just managed to haul down Krause's barge for the line. Prop, Brunt, was on hand to drive over from short range. Greenwood converted.

Leigh started to dominate and strong forward play from Middlehurst paved the way for an Erskine try which was again converted. The Leigh attack suddenly started to click as the game drew to a conclusion with their extra pace and fitness beginning to tell, and after several phases down the right flank substitute Sale bravely dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

Crewe 10 Leigh Tofts 14

The Tofts continued their successful start to 2004 with a hard-fought away win at Crewe.

Despite being a penalty kick down and soaking up plenty of pressure in the first half, the Leigh side always looked threatening when they secured good ball.

At the start of the second half they opened their account. Excellent linking between Lawrinson and McKeever saw Leigh break 60 yards up-field. From the second phase, Leigh recycled the ball wide through Barry Green who was stopped just short of the line but slipped the final pass to Fryer who burst over in the corner. Yates added a touchline conversion.

A second try followed soon after. A kick and chase saw flying hooker Ken Hilton win the race for the line only to be pulled back without the ball. Porteous added the conversion to the penalty try and Leigh were in command. The dreadful conditions played a part in keeping the score down as both sided tired of wading through the Cheshire mud. Even a dubious penalty try was not enough to deprive Leigh of their victory.

Leigh U15s 17 Oldham 20

Leigh's worst display of the season gave the hard working Oldham side a deserved win.

Leigh took the lead through Middleton-Adams and then created three excellent chances, but the final ball failed to reach hand. Oldham built up the momentum, a converted penalty and try gave them the lead, which they added to before half-time.

Another Oldham score stung Leigh into action. Middleton-Adams scored twice more and Pendlebury's superb touchline conversion set up a great finish. A last minute penalty was awarded to Leigh and they decided to go for the win, but Oldham's defence stood firm for victory.

Leigh U14s 30 Oldham U14s 27

Two evenly matched sides put on an excellent game of rugby in cold frosty conditions, exchanging 11 tries between them.

Leigh's tries came from Parkinson (2), Davis (2), Fiendley and Sale.

Leigh U10s 95 Bury U10s 0

Every player gave 100% in all departments and left Bury dizzy at times.

Tries from Kyle Jones 4, James Wilkinson 4, Sam Peet 3, Patrick Paine 2, Thomas Lloyd 2, Marcus Williams, Conor O Neill, Theo Moorfield, Jonathan Tipper. Man of the Match was Matthew Unsworth and Top Tackler was Sam Peet.

Leigh U9s 50 Bury U9s 20

In a physical encounter against a Bury team mixed with U9s and U10s Leigh won most of the battles up front, which laid the platform for Leigh's speedy backs to run the Bury defence ragged. On his debut Deakin scorched in for a brilliant brace, Matty Wilkinson showed real strength in collecting four tries. Other slick moves led to further tries by Elizabeth Farley, James Pemberton and Sam Oultram.

Man of the Match was Deakin and Best Defensive Display was by Ben.

Leigh U7/8s 45 Bury U7/8s 35

A thoroughly entertaining game saw Leigh give an excellent performance in both attack and defence to defeat a good Bury outfit. Lamb, Jones and McLoughlin made the difference with Gannon, O'Dwyer and Roddy providing the tries, the ever improving Hewitson, J Thorpe and Goodison all gave solid performances.

Man of the Match Adam Lamb, Top Try Scorer was Carney(4) and Top Tagger was shared by McLoughlin and Roddy.

Leigh U6s 40 Bury U7s 45

Leigh's youngest played good Bury side and were unlucky to lose. McKerchar, Ward and Hutchinson's understanding of the game was encouraging considering their age. They were well assisted by C Thorpe, Gannon and Hewitson with Goodison providing an excellent defensive effort. Man of the Match was shared by Alex Ward and Daniel Hutchinson, Top Tagger was Goodison and Top Try Scorer was Gannon.

Players of all ages from 5 to 55 are welcome, but particulary the younger boys up to 8 (Year 3 at school).