I FEEL totally deflated and disappointed. I really believe that this team is good enough to be up there competing with the best at the business end of the season instead of falling at the first hurdle.

We came up short today, way short.

I can’t really blame the players for their efforts today but we had to play one or two people out of position and that didn’t help us. You need specialists at stand-off and centre and we just didn’t have those today. We missed significant players in significant positions and you can’t afford to do that for any length of time. We got away with it at Batley the other week, but today it came back to bite us.

It’s frustrating but hopefully we’ll learn from this and come back better and stronger next season.

“I was pleased with the way the youngsters handled the game today and that stands us in good stead for the future. All the signs are there that we are growing as a squad and that can only be a good thing. There are exciting times ahead for Leigh Centurions both on and off the pitch.