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Remember When…

May 31 • Senior Club News, Senior Remember when... • 2347 Views • Comments Off on Remember When…

The French mistook us for Leigh. Perhaps one of the strangest matches Miners – or at least the club representatives in the 1978 Leigh League side – have ever been involved in was the short-lived European Cup which saw the Leigh side, as inter-league champions of the previous season, fly into the deep south of France in October 1978 to face XIII Catalans. The French side, the forerunners of the present-day Super League side Catalans Dragons, had claimed the Championnat de France the previous season by beating Roanne, and whether they believed they were playing Leigh’s professional team – as urban myth maintains – rather than the pick of the town’s amateur players or not, the Catalans certainly pulled out all the stops to ensure they would come out on top. It was a testing experience all round for the Leigh side, captained by Paul Dowling, who were held up at London Heathrow for 24 hours owing to fog, before flying out to Perpignan to face their hosts at the Stade Gilbert Brutus. As part of the unique flavour of the match the first half would be refereed by Geoff Lightfoot, who had traveled with the tour party, before local official Jean Figueres took the whistle for the second half, an arrangement which would prove crucial in the final reckoning and disastrous for the Leigh side.

The as now Catalans were the top French side but former England RU hooker Brian Moore’s memorable description of their union compatriots as being “brilliant but brutal, like fifteen Eric Cantonas”, could just as easily have been applied to these treizistes. As early as the fourth minute the fireworks began with one of the Catalans sin-binned for kicking out at Rod Lewis, but when restored to full strength the French side took the lead with a try from international winger Jean-Paul Siré before Leigh League hit back with Alan Marsh and Paul Dowling combining to send Lewis in for the try, John Roberts with the conversion and a penalty to put the visitors 7-3 ahead. Right on half time though Catalans regained the lead, Jean-Luc Brial with the converted try. With the handover to the French referee at the interval any semblance to a level playing field was dispelled, five successive penalties to the home side culminating in a dubious try for Brial and setting the tone as the game deteriorated from this point onwards. The home side rampaged largely unchecked whilst the Leigh League repeatedly earned the ire of Monsieur Figueres. With eight minutes remaining Jerome Moliner and Jean-Marc Bourret had scored further tries to put Catalans 19-7 ahead but the closing stages were chaotic as two brawls punctuated tries for Bouret, Brial with his hat-trick, and Marc Naudo to make the final score 30-7.

 

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