LITTLE Hulton Reds went down 40-18 at home to Leigh East on Saturday.

It was the Reds' first game in North West Men's League Division Three since the final week of April and the defeat leaves them eighth, three points clear of bottom.

Leigh made the most of Little Hulton’s lack of match practice in recent weeks, scoring with the first set of the game.

But the Reds responded well and started to dominate in midfield.

Leigh held firm for almost 30 minutes with their four-point lead, but eventually the pressure told as Mike Bolton crashed over the line at the side of the posts and Kyle MacDonaugh converted to give Little Hulton a 6-4 lead.

Leigh hit back with two quick converted tries to make the score16-6 at the break.

Little Hulton dominated the majority of the game but did not make things any easier for themselves when they went down to 12 men early in the second half after having a man sent to the sin bin for dissent.

The man advantage opened the door for Leigh to cross the whitewash for another two converted scores.

The Reds returned to full strength and started to show promise of a fightback when Mark Howard forced his way over the try line.

Following a flowing move down the left wing, the second rower carried two defenders over the line with him as he touched down.

They added a third converted try shortly after with man-of-the-match Gaz Hessian crossing under the posts, making the score 24-18 to Leigh.

Little Hulton put on a brave show but could not find a way to complete the comeback.

The final 10 minutes of the game belonged to Leigh and they crossed the line multiple times to finish the game with a comfortable 22-point lead.

Little Hulton are without a game on Saturday before facing Pilkington Recs A seven days later.