LEIGH'S rise to the top is complete. From basement blues to penthouse pleasure.

It's the stuff of which dreams are made - and coach Ian Millward reckons a movie mogul should be scripting a film of Leigh's remarkable transformation.

Leigh are suddenly the team the rest have to beat in the Northern Ford Premiership.

Yet Millward, basking in Sunday's 42-10 soaraway success against Workington, admits he still has to pinch himself when he thinks what the team has achieved in such a short time.

"It's an unbelievable story," he says. "I just don't think people realise what's going on here at the moment. It's an enormous turnaround.

"A down-and-out team, last in the comp and conceding over 1200 points, suddenly hits joint top - with virtually the same players.

"It's an exciting story and I just hope it has a happy ending. Iff we don't win another game this season we've been the success story of the year."

There is simply no holding Leigh. After they had blown away the early cobwebs, they destroyed a physical Town side which only two weeks ago toppled much-fancied Widnes.

It might have been a seven-try romp, but it was Leigh's early defensive work that laid the platform for a fifth successive win.

Soon after the break it was 30-0, and, if Leigh went off the boil late in the game, who cared?

Strangely, the Cumbrians had their best spell after Stewart Quayle was sent off for a second high tackle and Colin Armstrong was sin-binned for dissent.

They collected two quickfire tries, but that was the only blot on a near-perfect Leigh landscape.

Once they had seen off Town's early flurry, Leigh quickly hit top gear: David Ingram chipped over the top, gathered without breaking stride and zoomed in; Tim Street beat four men on a bullocking run and sent Stuart Donlan over, giving Paul Wingfield the first of seven successful kicks; the outstanding Heath Cruickshank scattered the Town defence before laying off to give Ingram his 12th try of the season; James Arkwright sent Anthony Murray away, Alan Hadcroft finishing off with a try near the posts; Kieron Purtill's clever chip gave Donlan the invitation to dive in for his second. 30-0.

Town finally make their mark but Murray's eager support play brought him two tries in the final quarter to take his season's tally to 11.

While Millward was quick to praise the efforts of Murray, Ingram, Cruickshank and Kennedy, it was the performance of Donlan at full-back that gave him the most satisfaction.

"He has been the model of consistency all season and gives the team such confidence," he said.

"He stood up to the physical challenge and his tries came because he reads the game so well. If there is a better full-back outside Super League I've not seen him yet."

LEIGH: Donlan; P Wingfield, Hadcroft, Ingram, Arkwright; Fairclough, Purtill; Street, Murray, Whittle, Liku, Cruickshank, Kennedy. Subs: Hilton, Norman, Parr, C Wingfield. Att: 1,484.

Our picture shows David Ingram celebrating after scoring the first of Leigh's seven tries.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.