Macdonald and Inu star as Leigh go top of Betfred Championship with big win against Dewsbury

Nene Macdonald and Krisnan Inu were the stars of the night as Leigh Centurions headed top of the Betfred Championship table with a thumping 44-0 Friday night victory at home to Dewsbury Rams. 

Continuing their promotion quest, the Leythers will remain top of the second division until at least Sunday afternoon when fellow contenders Featherstone Rovers return to action.

Keeping it clean for 80 minutes defensively, Adrian Lam’s side ran in eight tries against the Rams at the Leigh Sports Village with Macdonald and Inu each bagging braces, their link-up a persistent threat down the left which part-timers Dewsbury just couldn’t deal with.

Macdonald got things underway early on, though he had Joe Mellor – an unsung hero throughout the contest – to thank for it after the scrum half weaved past two opponents and executed an inch-perfect pass to the big man for him to touch the ball down.

Lee Greenwood’s Rams struggled to create much at the other end of the pitch but were denied only by a forward pass straight from the restart after that opening try as they caught Leigh napping.

A short kick was picked up by Reiss Butterworth and eventually worked out wide as Lewis Carr slid over but Will Tate’s ball out wide was judged to have gone forward, giving the hosts a reprieve.

Renowned for his point-scoring ability, ex-Salford Red Devils man Inu grabbed his first of the evening – and first try for Leigh since signing a few weeks ago – at the other end midway through the first half and again, it was a walk-in.

As the half-time hooter approached, Macdonald then made what was probably the best try of the evening with some individual brilliance for the Leythers’ third.

Starting in his own half, 75-metres from the Dewsbury try line, centre Macdonald turned away from his man and made a lung-busting run down the left showing off his pace.

A dinked kick over the top followed which Caleb Aekins eventually grounded via the hands of Ata Hingano, but Papua New Guinean Macdonald was certainly the architect proving too hot to handle for most of the Championship teams he’s gone up against so far.

On the opposite wing, Keanan Brand then added another for the Centurions with just 47 seconds on the clock in the second half, while John Asiata and Wigan Warriors loanee James McDonnell also powered over with Dewsbury tiring.

In the hunt for his hat trick, two-time NRL All-Star Macdonald returned to the field having rotated as an interchange and had the treble in his sight as he picked up the ball on the left wing from Hingano’s pass.

At risk of being taken out of play by an opponent in close proximity to the side line, Macdonald unselfishly opted to tuck the ball back inside for Inu to get another try, making it a double brace down the left.

Born in New Zealand, Inu converted his own try for a sixth successful kick of the evening though that’s where his – and Macdonald’s – points scoring ended on the night.

Co-captain Mellor rounded things off with a try that his own performance had warranted. Voted the club’s own Man of the Match, he breezed past a weary Dewsbury defence late on following an error with next to no time remaining, and it ended 44-0.

Leigh boss Lam talked pre-match about his side ticking off boxes along the way in their ‘Championship journey’, and he couldn’t have asked for a much firmer mark on the list from Friday’s game which was live in front of the Our League cameras as well as the 2500+ in person at the ground.

You can only beat what’s in front of you, and at the moment, the Leythers are consistently doing that.  With no Championship action next weekend, they now move onto a Good Friday – April 15 – trip to Widnes Vikings.

Meanwhile, Dewsbury, who are fighting against relegation and could end up in the drop zone come the end of this weekend depending on results elsewhere, travel across Yorkshire to face Batley Bulldogs that day.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt