AFTER last week's performance against St Benedicts, Leigh were still adjusting to life without the old guard and it painfully showed as they suffered their second straight defeat, going down 55 - 8 to a rampant Kirkby Lonsdale.

With several key men from last season absent through retirements, injuries and other commitments, Leigh were always going to struggle against their Cumbrian opposition who have been hovering just below National league rugby for the past two seasons

Within 10 mins Leigh found themselves behind by 5 points but a great spell of rugby gave them the lead with a penalty converted by Drake and a try a few minutes later.

However after 20mins, Kirkby started to make dangerous inroads into the Leigh half as well timed offloads and strongly contested breakdowns broke the Leigh defence time and time again with little cover being offered to the beleaguered backs as they fought valiantly but in vain to stop the flow.

For Leigh, having shipped almost 100 points against and scoring only one try, the next few games will be very crucial in the quest of a top half finish, with the visit of Eccles on Saturday followed by an away fixture with Altrincham Kersal