Dudley Hill came close to pulling off a major shock in round three of the Ace Insurance BARLA National Cup before being beaten 28-18 by Leigh East.

Hill suffered the same fate as local rivals West Bowling as they surrendered a hard-earned lead in the last ten minutes.

Centre Alex Dickinson put Hill well on the way to a memorable victory, helping himself to two tries, and with the lively Neil Wall a constant threat, the signs were good.

But Leigh are not top of the Conference Premier League for nothing and hit back through forward John Taylor.

As the game entered its final stages, Hill could only come up with a Wall penalty for their efforts.

Leigh’s extra power eventually told as loose forward Steve Grundy and centre Carl Redford both ran in tries to put paid to a valiant cup challenge.