Leigh Centurions 62 Locomotiv Moscow 0 by Mike Hulme: THE Centurions rolled out the welcome mat and treated Locomotive Moscow is if they were on a state visit.

But there was no room for sentiment on the pitch as Leigh ruthlessly exposed the gulf in class to comfortably march into the fourth round of the TXU Energi Challenge Cup.

Locomotiv, the Russian champions, came off the rails when they found themselves playing out of their depth. Although there were passages of play when they stretched Leigh, they were heavily punished for their defensive naivety and the result was a demoralising flow of points.

Yet despite their hammering, Locomotiv are convinced that more matches of this nature are what they need.

Coach Yevgeny Klebanov said: "Leigh have been marvellous hosts and it has been a valuable experience for us. It's shown us what standards we need to strive towards to be successful. It is our aim in the future to come back to Leigh and beat them!"

Opposite number Paul Terzis agrees that future inclusion of Russian sides in English competitions is the way forward.

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ocomotiv earned his respect. "There are a lot of sore bodies in our dressing room which proves just how hard the Russians played the game.

"It's a great shame that seven or eight of their players don't have the benefits of full time training over here. If the did. I'm sure they would make the grade at National League One and Two level.

"It's been a good experiment by the RFL and one I think should be continued in future years because it can only improve their game."

The Russians would have run many of England's amateur sides close but against a team that was just one game away from Super League last season, they were hopelessly out of their depth.

But the potential was clear to see. Second rower Robert Iliassov was Moscow's best player by a Siberian mile; prop Petr Sokolov didn't give Leigh's front a minutes' peace and scrum-half Denis Nikolski came up with one or two crafty moments.

Apart from a 15 minute spell in the second half when Leigh got a little sloppy, Locomotiv were always on the back foot as Leigh cut them up almost at will.

The floodgates opened in the seventh minute when Pat Weisner and Dale Cardoza worked a blind side move for Alan Hadcroft to get outside his marker and dash in for the first of Leigh's 11 tries. Three minutes later Paul Rowley exposed some non-existent marker defence to dive in for an 8-0 lead.

Locomotiv's only first half chance of points came and went when Nikolski pulled a penalty shot wide.

Leigh moved into double figures in the 14th minute when Weisner's footwork opened the defence and full-back Dave Alstead grabbed his second try in as many matches. Lee Sanderson, having missed with his first two shots at goal, landed the first of eight to make it 14-0.

Leigh's major strike threat came through their centres Damian Munro and Cardoza. In the space of 10 minutes before half time they blasted through for two tries apiece. Munro's first came after good work by Sean Richardson and Eric Andrews; Sanderson's cute pass got Cardoza in; Munro shot clear from 25 metres and then Cardoza finished of a length of the field move which feature a stunning 70-metre break from Hadcroft.

At 38-0 at half time, it was all over.

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he procession continued in the opening minutes of the second half. The outstanding Richardson swotted off two defenders to cross wide out and run round to the posts and not long afterwards Sonny Nickle was another to notch his first try for the club when he muscled over from close in to bring up the half century.

With the match sewn up the Centurions went through a careless stage, giving Locomotiv a spell of intense pressure. But winger Denis Mechov wasted their two best opportunities with nervous handling.

They were spared too much further punishment as Leigh restricted themselves to just two more tries.

Sub John Duffy looped a pass round the back of an advancing defensive line and Dale Holdstock sauntered in for another try before Rowley won his own kick and chase to touch down under the posts for a try converted by Duffy.

Match Facts

SCORERS

Tries - Leigh: Hadcroft 7 mins; Rowley 10, 77; Alstead 26; Munro 29, 37; Cardoza 32, 39; Richardson 42; Nickle 51; Holdstock 71. Gls: Sanderson 8/10, Duffy 1/1.

TEAMS

Leigh: Alstead; Andrews, Munro, Cardoza, Hadcroft; Weisner, Sanderson; Ball, Rowley, Bradbury, Richardson, Blackwood, Bristow. Subs used: Holdstock, Hamilton, Duffy, Nickle.

Locomotiv: Romanov; Postnikov, Gavriline, V.Ovchinnikov, Mechov; Nechaev, Nikolski; Sokolov, R.Ovtchinnikov, Lysenkov, Iliassov, Doulmalkine, Bojoukov. Subs used: Logounov, Izmailov, Koltykhov, Jivorykine.

Penalties conceded: Leigh 12, Locomotiv 7.

Handling errors: Leigh 11, Locomotiv 12.

Half time: 38-0

Full time: 62-0

Attendance: 2641

Referee: Steve Nicholson (Whitehaven).

Star man

rRICHARDSON, Cardoza and Rowley were stand-out performers for the Centurions. But for tireless effort in a lost cause it's got to be Locomotiv second rower Robert Iliassov. A great effort from the thirtysomething.

Magic moment

rTHE second of Cardoza's two tries. The move started in the shadow of their own posts and featured a 70-metre sprint by Hadcroft. A trademark Leigh try.

Moan of the match

rTHOSE black numbers on the Leigh shirts. Identification in the daylight is tough enough - under floodlights it's almost impossible.