Leigh were always going to prove a difficult challenge and it was no great surprise that Vagabonds lost their opening league fixture, going down at a sunny Glencrutchery Road.

There were, however, some encouraging signs for the remainder of the season.

Vagas started better and two early penalties from Johnny Beckley gave them a 6-0 lead after just 10 minutes.

Leigh then turned the tables and, after Stuart Fisher bagged a penalty to make it 6-3, tries from Dave Wood and Carl Bibby gave them an 18-6 lead at half time.

Kevin Riley pulled a try back for Vagas early in the second half but Leigh replied from the restart through Chris Bibby to give them a 25-11 advantage, which they kept until the end.

Vagas actually played much of the second half in Leigh territory and can consider themselves a little unlucky not to have crossed the whitewash.

The other Manx side in the league, Manx Cup holders Douglas, crashed to a 48-11 defeat away at the highly rated Southport in Division Three.

Bryn Snellgrove kept Douglas in the hunt with two first half penalties to leave the score 11-6 at the break but Southport cut loose in the second half and a late consolation score from James Bunce gave the scoreline some respectability for Douglas.