Leigh Centurions win first piece of silverware under Adrian Lam

It was an afternoon of delight for Adrian Lam who saw his Leigh Centurions win their first piece of Silverware during their new era and lift the 1895 Cup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The Centurions won by a convincing scoreline in the end of 16-30 as Featherstone failed to deal with the power Leigh possessed and the second half of dominance from Lam’s men was too much for Rovers on the big stage.

It was a frantic start with the scoring taking just three minutes to be opened as Craig Hall scored his first of three penalty goals in the first half and put Rovers ahead in the capital.

But Leigh Centurions weren’t here to make up the numbers and the team who currently sit 2^nd in the Betfred Championship got the first try of the afternoon with Krisnan Inu rising highest before slamming the ball down.

It only took five minutes for Featherstone to get their own first try of the afternoon and it was Hall again who certainly enjoyed his first 40 minutes in Tottenham.

But with one more try for Adrian Lam’s side before the break and a couple of Featherstone penalty goals, the scores were level at the interval at 12-12.

The second half however saw the Centurions take control and a flurry of brilliance saw the side from the North-West take the game by the scruff of the neck and score two tries in quick succession to take control.

Tries from Blake Ferguson and Man of the Match Edwin Ipape saw Leigh put themselves in an ideal position where the final was theirs to lose and Lam’s side remained professional to see out the win and stand up to the pressure from Featherstone.

With moments left on the clock, Sam Stone sealed the victory for Leigh with a baffling try from a Featherstone perspective as they tried to see the ball out of play and Stone snuck in and touched the ball down with the slightest of touches.

The final few minutes drew to a close with Leigh taking every last second in as their second-half dominance finalised in jubilation and saw them lift silverware for the first time under Adrian Lam.

The former Wigan boss stated after the game how ‘proud’ he was of the players and the club and how he knew ‘the town would be buzzing’ and hopes to celebrate tonight with the fans.

But despite coming into the game arguable underdogs, a day of brilliance from two proud Papa New Guinea men in Lam and Ipape proved the difference as Leigh Centurions lifted the 1895 Cup and now look back to league action as they chase runners up, Featherstone Rovers.

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