Leigh Centurions • 77/8 and 78/9/seasons
1) 77/8 saw another audacious steal from St.Helens of legend John Mantle as player-coach to help a young developing Leigh side in the 2nd division. A superb start in the league saw 12 wins out of 13matches which included the club record of 13 goals and 4 tries by John Woods on 1 Sep. 1977, admittedly against Blackpool. The team lost only 5 games out of 26, and finished champions. One of my favourite players around this time was Dave Macao, a deceptively fast blond second rower signed from Widnes who always gave 100%. Meanwhile Woody kicked 140 goals and scored 16 tries with Dessy contributing 14, and surely this side was more capable of holding it’s own in the first division?
2) 78/9 saw a god start in the Lancashire Cup with a superb win over a Saints 21-4 in front of over 5,000 at H.P.,but the step up to the top division proved to be very difficult as the team only won 5 out of the first 21 matches, and would sadly lead to Mantle losing his job.
On a personal note it was great to see Steve Donlan sign on in late September 1978 from Leigh R.U., as we were at school together at Leigh G.S. and pled as half back partners for the school rugby team for several seasons. Unfortunately, he was slightly qilcker than I was!!!
So it was that Tommy Grainey was promoted from within, and in one of the greatest coaching feats in the team’s history, managed to seer the team to 8 straight victories and finish 11th, well clear of the drop. Highlights included wins over Wigan home 13-12, followed by away wins at Cas and Wakefield rounded off by a last Mach win over Saints, 5-2. Woods 86 goals, 10 tries, Drummond 13 tries for the season. Things were looking promising as the yo-yo affect had been broken. Less than 10 years on, could we be heading to a new golden era??
2) 78/9 saw a god start in the Lancashire Cup with a superb win over a Saints 21-4 in front of over 5,000 at H.P.,but the step up to the top division proved to be very difficult as the team only won 5 out of the first 21 matches, and would sadly lead to Mantle losing his job.
On a personal note it was great to see Steve Donlan sign on in late September 1978 from Leigh R.U., as we were at school together at Leigh G.S. and pled as half back partners for the school rugby team for several seasons. Unfortunately, he was slightly qilcker than I was!!!
So it was that Tommy Grainey was promoted from within, and in one of the greatest coaching feats in the team’s history, managed to seer the team to 8 straight victories and finish 11th, well clear of the drop. Highlights included wins over Wigan home 13-12, followed by away wins at Cas and Wakefield rounded off by a last Mach win over Saints, 5-2. Woods 86 goals, 10 tries, Drummond 13 tries for the season. Things were looking promising as the yo-yo affect had been broken. Less than 10 years on, could we be heading to a new golden era??
Statistics: Posted by CHEADLE LEYTHER — Tue Jan 01, 2019 6:51 pm — Replies 0 — Views 50