TO SAY last week's result was a disappointment is the understatement of the season. I know the fans were upset -- and rightly so.
I was bitterly disappointed and the players were gutted. They know they have to redeem themselves this weekend against Sheffield.
I spent the early part of the week watching a video of the game time and time again. We dominated for long periods, and the first half performance would have been enough to beat virtually every other team in the league.
Ultimately the sin-binning of Ian Hughes probably cost us the game. I thought Ian's 10 minutes off the field was a harsh call by the referee, but in that 10 minute period Centurians scored three tries through an area of the field that he would normally have defended.
Leigh are a quality team and when Hughes was off they exploited the situation very well, but judging the entire 80 minutes I still think ours was a team performance that would, on any other day, have beaten 16 teams in the division. However, it's gone and there is nothing we can do about it. Of course we can take a lot from it to improve for the future, but as far as the reports are concerned, they are now fish and chip paper!
I THOUGHT Danny Seal had a good first 40 minutes. He lacks match fitness so his second 40 was not so good, but he's a quality player and we have yet to see the best of him.
Dean Hanger also did well when he came on. He will definitely start this weekend.
I was hoping that Graeme Hallas would be fit for this coming weekend, but our Alliance game against his old club Hunslet was called off late on Wednesday, so he may need another week's preparation.
MICHAEL SLICKER was carried off after only a few minutes with a suspected broken ankle, which is a great blow both for young Mike and the club.
THIS WEEK'S game really is a 'must win' situation. Leigh were always going to be difficult, but we must beat Sheffield. Mark Aston has moulded a pretty good outfit together, and they only lost by six points against Doncaster last week, but to justify our aims as play-off candidates we have to win.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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