Northwich 17 Leigh 32

2:00pm Thursday 6th December 2007

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IT was a familiar tale of torment for Northwich on Saturday.

A superb individual performance from Leigh full back Paul Wilcock destroyed any hopes of a Blacks home win as he scored three tries to break the spirit of their injury-ridden hosts.

Gary Bell and Richard Dale are the latest to add their names to the list of walking wounded.

Slack tackling and marking allowed Wilcock to grab the limelight and score two first half tries, the first after 10 minutes when he cut through to score between the posts.

He converted his try and narrowly missed repeating the trick from his second score.

Wilcock then kicked a penalty and a Steve Peacock drop goal to give the visitors an 18-0 lead before Northwich captain Steve Campbell slotted a three-pointer.

Blacks leaked two further tries after the break.

The first came from Simon Barton, converted by that man Wilcock, and two minutes later the full back picked up a loose ball to complete his hat-trick.

The hosts finally rose from their slumber to finish strongly, star man Sam Naylor turning the game when he intercepted a Leigh attack to score.

Hayes converted before a Naylor catch and drive led to Pete Pattenden touching down.

Sub Hayes once more added the extras to give the scoreline a semblance of respectability.

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Northwich: Cartman, Fred Taylor, Davey, Simpson, Heath, Naylor, Pattenden, Smith, Steve Taylor, Bell (Johnson 50), Dale (Hayes 5), Keegan, Gwynne, Campbell, Bown.