After replacing Paul Wingfield as Leigh East Head Coach in midweek, Martin Roden tasted victory in his first game in charge. It came at Crosfields with East collecting just their second away win of the season.

The former Wigan, Leigh and Blackpool hooker put an immediate stamp on the job as committed defence won the day.

Crosfields had their first opportunity after four minutes from a scrum when the ball came left but Josh Adudwumaa threw Danny Lee into touch.

The hosts next got their hands on the ball a minute later and took advantage when Billy Sheen kicked right and this time Lee collected the bouncing ball to go in and improve the angle by ten metres. Jack Reid converted and Crosfields led 6-0.

East raided with Nathan Taylor taking a kick by Adam Holland. As he we running the ball out for the 20 metre restart he was impeded and Nathan Gaskell was sent to the sin-bin.

East responded positively with Zac Nicholls finding the excellent Adam Wilkes. Next Jordan Hellam went 25 metres and two tackles later Holland ghosted forward to the line before sprightly play brought a try for Pat Rainford who ducked beneath Joe Clarke. Tom Worthington goaled to level things at 6-all.

East won a quick penalty and a storming run by Jay Yarwood took them to the thirty. Two plays later Wilkes stormed through in support of Worthington and Louis Else with Worthington converting to make it 12-6.

It was two tries in three minutes and East led up to the 25^th minute when Reid sent sub Matt Barber stepping under the posts. Reid goaled and the game was locked again 12-12. In this period the hosts lost Sheen and prop Tom Brown

Crucially, East took the lead six minutes before the break when Gaskell atoned for his yellow card, stepping through the defence. Worthington goaled and the visitors held advantage at the break.

The game stayed locked at that score for a long time before the visitors broke the deadlock on the hour. Jay Yarwood made the inroads from Andrew Ball before the ball went left through Worthington and Holland. Hellam supported to step through the line and go under the posts. Worthington added his fourth goal and it was 24-12.

Crosfields hooker Hayden James combined with John Whittaker in the 67^th minute for a try by Ash Cornelia but Reid missed the conversion.

Still the hosts were back in the contest, trailing by eight points and with a recent history of fightbacks behind them. They had an opportunity down the right but Lee pulled his hamstring in pursuit of a smart kick from Reid.

East then scored a crucial try five minutes later. Sub Jordan Hill had set the position before the ball came down the blindside and Yarwood trailed the inside of Worthington to collect the scoring pass.

There was no conversion but East now led 28-16 and their defence did enough to hold Crosfields at bay in the closing stages.

Crosfields: John Whittaker, Danny Lee, Chris Burgess, Chris Hull, Nathan Taylor; Jack Reid, Billy Sheen; Phil Brazendale, Hayden James, Tom Brown, Jordan Thomason, Lewis Bani, Joe Clarke. Subs: Ash Cornelia, Jordan Chilton, Tom Millington, Matt Barber.

Leigh East: Adam Holland, Josh Adudwumaa, Josh Swift, Chris Penn, Ryan Gray; Jordan Hellam, Tom Worthington; Adam Wilkes, Pat Rainford, Louis Else, Zac Nicholls, Jake Beaumont, Jay Yarwood. Subs: Andrew Ball, Jordan Hill, Nathan Gaskell, Chris Hamer.