Blackpool Scorpions three match winning run came to a shuddering halt as they crashed to a 58 – 4 loss away to top of table Leigh East
A number of injuries late in the week, combined with player unavailability forced Blackpool into a number of positional and personnel changes, with youngsters Jordan Schreiber and James Cunliffe included whilst Lewis Wenham and Gareth Skelton returned after lengthy absences.
Scorpions struggled from almost the first whistle to contain a very strong Leigh side that contained former professionals including ex Wigan and Salford prop Lee Hansen and with no game for East’s first team, three of the clubs national conference players were also on duty with the current BARLA Great Britain fullback Ryan Fieldhouse amongst them. It came as no shock therefore when Leigh raced into a 24 – 0 lead almost racking up a point a minute as their large pack and talented backs tore the Scorpions defence apart.
Blackpool to their credit began to fight back with great breaks by Keith Potter and Ben Simpson almost resulting in a try for loos forward Phil Mitchell, Minutes later powerful runs from Antony Clark and Danny Barr carried the visitors deep into the Leigh half before Wenham sliced through three would be tacklers to touch down leaving Scorpions trailing 24 – 4 at the break.
Unfortunately the second period saw the hosts cut loose scoring seven further tries as they set up camp in the Scorpions half with only some great scrambling defence from Luke Valente, Liam Wilkinson and Karl Etherington amongst others, preventing Leigh from racking up an even larger victory. The final whistle brought an end to Blackpool’s suffering with the final score standing at 58 – 4.
The final result was obviously a huge disappointment although credit must be paid to each and every Scorpions player who battled away against a very good Leigh East outfit who played some terrific rugby.
Team: Antony Clark, Ben Simpsonr, Keith Potter, Danny Barr, Jordan Schreiber, Luke Valente, Liam Wilkinson, Karl Davies, Lewis Wenham, Ryan Fuller, Max Rossall, Karl Etherington, Phil Mitchell
Subs: Scott Marsden, Gareth Skelton, Mark Holden, James Cunliffe
Tries: Lewis Wenham
Goals: Valente 0/1
