Tims 92

Leigh Centurions

Hilton Park

Ground No. 4

Visited - Sunday 18th June 2006
Result - Leigh Centurions 62-12 Workington Town
Competition - Northern Rail Cup, Semi-Final
Attendance - 1543

Despite only being a relatively recent convertee to Rugby League, Hilton Park was a ground that I’d wanted to visit for some time, more so with the town’s football team, Leigh RMI, playing there, but with the football season over, the Northern Rail Cup Semi-Final seemed as good a time as any to make the trip northwards.

As usual, I caught the train from Wolverhampton, which was quite delayed in arriving, but we eventually got going, having made some time up when we pulled into Wigan, where I was due to change. With Leigh not having a train station itself, the next step of the journey was by bus, but unlike the train, that went without any hitches, and we arrived into Leigh on time, with me getting off right next to the ground, about 50 minutes before the game was due to start.

For some time, the club have been looking to move, and from the outside it’s quite evident as to why, with the ground not exactly being the most modern one in the world. That said, compared to some, it does seem to have been cared for, so it could have been a lot worse, however being tightly packed in by houses on one side, a B&Q Store on the other and a main road running behind one end, then it is obvious that relocation is necessary, with only the Main Stand really being able to be expanded beyond its current size.

After paying a quick visit to the club shop, I eventually went inside, and after going through the turnstiles and up onto the terraces, once again the main impression is of a ground that has seen better days. On one side is the Main Stand, which is a reasonable sized, all-seated stand, running for about a third of the length of the pitch, with two uncovered terraces either side of it, wrapping around to the two ends, both of which are uncovered terraces, that once again run around the corner to the Tommy Sale Stand, which has a lower tier of terracing, and seating above that, both covered by a rather low roof.

Having surveyed the scene, and taken a few pictures, without much else to do I went underneath the Tommy Sale Stand, where there was a good sized bar doing a good trade, so sat down in there for a quick drink, before coming back out and finding a seat in the stand above. Eventually, the time came nearer to 3pm, and with the ground having filled up a little bit, the game got started. Being a division higher than Workington, Leigh were expected to win this match, and so when they took the lead in the third minute, it was no great surprise to the majority of fans inside Hilton Park (or to give it its proper title, The Coliseum at Hilton Park!). Following a penalty, it was Carl Forber who went over to open the scoring, but with the conversion being missed, it meant that Workington had the chance to take the lead, which they duly did seven minutes later with Liam Campbell being the man with the try. Stephen Kirkbride got the extra two points to make it 4-6 to the visitors, but their lead wasn’t to last for long, and as expected, Leigh dominated the rest of the first half, with another five tries all being converted to make the score 34-6 at the interval.

In the second half, it was much the same with Workington having an early flurry, thanks to Campbell getting his second try of the afternoon, but after that, normal service was resumed and Leigh controlled the game with ease. Inspired by an impressive Michael Govin, they scored another five tries in the second half, to ensure themselves of a place in the final with a 62-12 victory.

Despite Workington trying their best, the result was never really in doubt, with the difference in quality between the two teams really showing.

After the match had finished, I made a quick getaway to try and get the bus back to Wigan, arriving at the bus stop just in time, before going on to see the Warriors game at home to Catalan Dragons.

Overall, it had been quite a good trip with the match being quite entertaining, even given the inevitable result. Unfortunately I hadn’t found the ground quite as good as I had expected, with it feeling quite ‘cold’, not helped by a crowd of 1543 in a stadium holding over 10,000, but that said, it wasn’t that bad and was certainly worthy of a visit. Maybe on a nicer day, with a bigger crowd in it wouldn’t be so bad, so I’ll be quite happy to go back, perhaps when they play one of their local rivals.