Rampant Leyland in rout of Rangers

A fornight ago, Warriors full-back Leon Fifield’s early sin-binning cost them dear in a 22-16 home defeat by Rangers.

And, as in the previous encounter, the first 10 minutes were about both sides testing each other out.

Leyland were beginning to control the middle of the field, until an error – compounded by a penalty – gave Manchester several repeat sets in the Warriors 20-metre area. But Warriors held out with Sam Biggs and Phill Mills to the fore. On the back of that defence, Leyland opened the scoring with a play down the short side, Fifield showing pace and power to burst between defenders.

A few minutes later, a well-executed spread play from Warriors saw Adam Bee finish in the left-hand corner to extend Leyland’s lead.

Manchester were giving their all and worked their way back into the game but could not unlock the Leyland defence, which was superb in the middle, not allowing their dummy-half any room to work in.

On the half-hour, Leyland worked their way close to the visitors’ posts and when a Warriors 
chip-kick deflected off the post-protector, Dan McLean showed great reactions to race past in and score, with Fifield converting to make it 14-0 at the break.

Leyland tried to control the second half in the same manner as the first, and while there were a few scrappy patches as errors crept in to the game from both teams, they achieved their goal for the most part. They extended their lead early in the piece when a Liam Deans’ break took them close and a smart cut-out pass saw Danny McGrath stroll over next to the posts, Fifield converting.

Leyland added a further try when Stewart McLean again linked in from full-back on a shift and the ball found Fifield once more, who crossed in the left-hand corner.

The Warriors team defended superbly throughout the game and ran hard all afternoon, with Ryan Sumner and Simon McDonald both breaking the line.

Jurguen Moquete was next to score for Leyland, being rewarded for his powerful running when he squeezed between defenders to crash over from close range.

In doing so he became the first Columbian to score for Leyland Warriors. Fifield added the conversion.

Warriors’ defence continued to be dominant and having again forced a turnover in Rangers’ half, the forwards took Leyland close. And when the defence overreacted to a lead runner, Scott Low played the space to dummy and went over from close range, with Stewart McLean’s conversion completing the scoring.

Elswhere, Warriors Under-18s hosted Saddleworth Rangers and were made to work hard for a 44-30 victory.

The Under-13s travelled to Ince Rose Bridge and lost out in controversial fashion to a last-minute penalty.

Leyland Under-10s lost 30-0 to Limehurst Lions but the Under-8s won 48-36 against the Lions. TheUnder-7s team were at home to Burtonwood Bulldogs and enjoyed an excellent 36-28 victory.