Using the Rugby League Bullshit Decoder, he was a relieved man - one point away from a massive humiliation with Hornets looking fitter and more determined as his full-time charges waned.

For lovers of a finely honed clichˇ, this really was the archetypal game of two halves. Leigh were underway after just three minutes as Grix bounced off tackles for a soft try.

Hornets struck back on their next foray into Leigh territory. Matt Firth's tidy grubber slid between defenders and Lee Patterson shrugged off some close attention to touch down. However, the touch judge's somewhat loose interpretation of the laws of parallax saw the effort struck off for a dubious offside.

But Hornets went straight back on the offensive, working a superbly executed try. Dave McConell's exocet pass hit Lee Doran arriving at full tilt; he scythed through the Leigh defence and his drop off pass to Chris Giles saw him scoot in by the posts. Mark McCully added the two to bring Hornets level.

Then Hornets clocked off. Firstly Halliwell burst through from close range; then Heremaia sprinted 75 metres after a Firth kick found Leigh hands. The half closed with Lee Patterson losing the ball behind his own line under close scrutiny from a clutch of Leigh tacklers; Halliwell touched down. Out of nowhere, Hornets were 22-6 down and looked dead in the water.

But the second half took a completely different shape. Within three minutes, 'Pogo' Patterson snaffled a shocking Heremaia pass to outpace the leigh defence over 80 metres. Hornets gathered the resulting kick off and worked the ball back across towards suspect makeshift centre Damian Munro.

Phil Hasty's perfectly timed pass posted Andy Gorski through a huge hole. With only the full-back to beat - and with options both sides - Gorski turned the ball inside (and the full-back inside out) fir Lee Doran to power under the posts. McCully added the two and Leigh were reeling. A McCully penalty closed the gap to two points and a resurgent Hornets could sense the squeak of twitching Leigh sphincters.

On the next possession, Hornets drove the flagging visitors' defence back downfield. Hasty's jinking run was ended inches short; then his dink towards the corner was coughed cold by the flapping Leigh winger. Chris Giles pounced on the loose ball - only for referee laughton to halt play and give the knock-on decision inexplicably to Leigh. Uproar in the main stand and a pressure relieving penalty swept Leigh out of danger.

From the resulting field position, Greenwood scored by the flag to extend Leigh's lead. But a McCully penalty after Hargreaves made a hash of playing the ball pulled Hornets within a score of salvaging something from the game.

The introduction of Sam Butterworth had Leigh's tired defence in all sorts of trouble. With virtually his first touch he shimmied his way past a procession of flailing tacklers; and on 73 minuutes he produced a piece of 'Sam Butt' magic that brought the home fans to their feet. Teasing defenders with a jinking run, Sam popped a delicate chip over their heads, gathered the bouncing ball and had the ball planted by the foot of the post before the Leigh players hhad chance to turn around. Sheer quality.

McCully slotted the extras and - almost miraculously - Hornets were level at 28 apiece. Staring down the barrel of a major embarrassment, Leigh dragged themselves back upfield where Heremaia found enough space to launch the winning drop goal.

Darren Abbram was as gutted as the rest of us: "The football we played was superb. If you look at the money Rochdale have spent - less than £100,000 compared to a full-time team (with) Super League players in there - to lose the way we did is hurting."