Being ever so optimistic, that looked like Leigh in control, looking at a depleted Fev team sheet and just coasting for most of the match.

Ben better practice his kicking again.

Hingano isn't exactly covering himself in glory as an obvious half for Mellor (though his defence is pretty solid).

Aekins continues to shine in attack and defence but for me the stand out today was Kai.

Given the nature of the squads of both teams it still is hard to draw what the future holds but I think we are in a far stronger position.

Well done WYSIWYG. In the immediate aftermath of the 1895 final where our forwards battered theirs, Mac signed Eseh on loan from Wakey. Wondered if he'd prove a thorn in our side. Nope, just Bongser's side. That late tackle on 80 mins and the resulting successful penalty cost your correspondent a perfect margin on the Superleigh Predictor! Still, Reynolds scored two points and "sponsored by AB Sundecks" came over the PA. Derek must hate Inu. How many games do you reckon?

Seriously, reet chuffed. Nice to be top on merit for the first time since the sludge-fest.

Annoying break now but more time for Joe M, unless we're not being told something.

Thank you VL and B&B, only wished I had put a bet on the score now. Can't wait for the Summer Bash game. I'm going for a bigger win this time Leigh 42 Fev 16. We must keep Ipape, Amone, Asiata,.they are brilliant. Also thought Joe Chamberlain put in a few crunching tackles. Fergie- what can you say, he's a scoring machine. Just get the ball out wide to him. What an entertainer. Loved the game. Well done to everyone at Leigh!

Bigger, faster, fitter, stronger, younger .....
Better !!!

Pretty much sums it up, and those things will not change.
As long as we stay smarter and equally committed in our next meets with them, I don’t see how they beat us again.

Leigh were seriously impressive tonight. Fev came and had a real go, much more so than in Tottenham. They went beyond their limits to the point of injuring themselves (5/6 players) but Leigh not only stood up, we proved we are bigger, faster and stronger. Brilliant performances all over the pitch but special mentions for Asiata and Amone who did a lot of the damage physically. If there is a better centre than Ed Chamberlain in the championship i have not seen one. Don't say it out loud but i think i'd rather have him than McDonald. Never puts a foot wrong. We have other players like Chamberlain who just do their jobs efficiently without the flashy and make very few mistakes, Smith, Stone and Wardle come to mind. I didn't think Ipape had his best game but again had a few unplayable moments. We will do remarkably well if we manage to keep hold of him. Inu left his kicking boots at home (think its the pink one), black and white obviously don't have the magic. I did, however love the physicality he brought tonight with some massive hits. I don't know if Joey Leilua questioned Ben Reynolds' parentage at some point but Ben seemed to take particular pleasure in 'putting the hit on Leilua' tonight who wilted under the pressure. Well done Ben. Ferguson is just a machine, is that 11 tries in 5 matches?
I do still think we need a half back, maybe 2. Reynolds and Hingano just don't cut it. Ben was good physically tonight but lacks imagination with ball in hand and Ata just isn't good enough. IF we lost Joe Mellor it would be a massive blow. Two good attacking/ organising halfbacks would make us destructive and would make better use of our attacking threats. There are still times were we lack that organisation in attack.
One negative mention for the referee tonight. He was appalling for both sides. Inu's sending off was a soft one and not in the same ballpark as the Fev sending off at the last. He made many dodgy calls throughout the match which really affected the flow of the game. A better referee would have allowed the match to flow better and the scoreline would have been bigger as a result. Lots of stop/start moments took away from our roll and allowed Fev to get set.
Mark my words, tonight was a real turning point in the season. Fev came under instruction to have a real go physically and came off 2nd best to the point of injury. Yes they had chances they didn't take but we were never out of control. They cannot beat us playing rugby, they now know they cannot beat us physically. A real turning point.

Good performance from Leigh. What was the crowd?

4200

4,226 Bongser reads, not bad for a Champ game on a Monday night, especially one that is being TVised.

10/10 for correct score prediction.

Cracking crowd for a televised Monday night game. Looked like about 200/300 Fev fans,not a critiscm because it can be a mare on the M62.

Thanks, Bart. Get a bet on for my Big Bash prediction, Leigh 42 Fev 16!! lol

Nene didn't play. Otherwise you were spot on, WYSIWYG! As you are now Mystic Meg, how many games for Krisnan? Looked clumsy rather than deliberate but Red Hall tends to look at effect rather than cause or intent.

Whatever Inu gets, Eseh should get at least double. That was a hot-blooded, frustrated and premeditated assault. Just Bongser's musings.

I saw the two incidents the same you BB. I posted the same on a Facebook thread. 2 for Inu and 4 for Eseh in my humble view.

As you say, B&B, it was a clumsy tackle rather than intentional but it does look terrible when watched on Premier Sports, so I'm going for a 4 match ban. Eseh is a young lad with a very bright future ahead of him and I think he just had a rush of blood to the head. Think he will also get 4 matches.

Apparently it is red card sufficient for both. Can’t say I disagree with either of those decisions but predicted based on previous bans from the panel this season. It seems that normality may have returned.
Wildie is apparently a 2 game ban which I feel is a little unlucky as he did not seem to have any intent either.

Well, there goes my Mystic Meg moniker

Will stick to shorelines

.

I have every confidence in your bash prediction
(

Featherstone's season seems to have unravelled quite spectacularly in a 4 week period, Their fans are completely down about the two Leigh results and have started to turn on the team, the manager and their own fans. From the heady heights of being undefeated and top of the league, they are are now looking for consolation in what remains of the season.

Fev fans and a large numbers of pundits had Featherstone nailed on for promotion, now they are wondering how they can possibly compete with a Fitter, Faster, Stronger, and Younger Leigh team, that is far from performing at the top of their game. Many have even started blaming injuries for Featherstone's plight, but in my opinion if you try to rough up the Leigh forwards you will end up with bruised bodies on the treatment table. In Fev's case it takes older bodies more time to recover.

Leigh now have a difficult period with 6 games away from the LSV, hopefully we will still be smiling after the Headingley fixture.

Inu no charge, Eseh no charge, Wildie 2 matches. https://rugby-league.com/governance/rul ... nary-cases

Inu no charge, Eseh no charge, Wildie 2 matches. https://rugby-league.com/governance/rul ... nary-cases

How can those decisions taken together be justified?

Many thought the dismissal of Inu was a soft one. The referee Hicks also officiated our recent home match against Halifax during which he gave Inu a yellow card, I believe for a crusher tackle. This again was dismissed as not worthy of a charge by the disciplinary committee

Baffled, Reffy. They certainly don't like Mr Hicks. Better dubbin your boots mate!

I would be interested to know how you view them Reffy.
For me I saw no intent in the Inu and Wildie tackles, but I did in Eseh, who was head on, arms raised and no wrap.
I based my original 2, 2 and 4 prediction on decisions from earlier in the season, the perceived intent that I saw, and I believe no serious injury to any player.
I think 0 Inu, 0 Wildie and 2 Eseh, would be more balanced in what now seems to be a slightly more lenient panel.

Maybe it would help if we all looked at the rationale of the Disciplinary Match Review Panel's decisions.

For Inu’s ‘tackle’, the minutes revealed: “Player hits the shoulder and rides up onto the neck area of the opponent,” but with no further action taken.

In respect of Eseh, “Player tackles across the chest and opponent falls to ground with impact.”

I don't think that it is a case of finding that the red cards were sufficient more that Hicks got the decisions to show red cards wrong in respect of both tackles.

Wildie on the other hand was charged with, Grade C Dangerous Contact – 2 Match Penalty Notice. Wildie did not challenge this decision. In effect, he accepted both the offence and the penalty