Leigh Dragons set off from the land of the Vote Lenders to The Rainford Stadium Arena of Light on Monday evening.  The East Lancs was a snarled mess of commuters struggling to get home because the M62 was closed ... the Dragons arrived exhausted at 8:15pm ... known around these parts as ‘Penny Time’.

A combination of injury and diary mismanagement meant Smash fielded an unusual trio of Dazla, Kraftwerk Nick and substitute Rob Midgley ... whilst Galeforce Garfin, Pugwash Smith and Little Adam represented Dragons.

First blood to Dragons when Galeforce beat Kraftwerk 3-1 in the opener.  This was followed by a renewing of old rivalries ... Pugwash Smith v Dazla ... the same two that contested the Div3 singles final back in their novice years of 2014. A good back and forth battle ... shot and counter-shot ... at 2-1 to Pugwash it was levelled by Dazla with a resounding 11-2 win in the fourth ... only for Pugwash to swashbuckle his way through the last set to win 3-2 ... a repeat of their 2014 final scoreline.

History lesson over ... Dragons were more interested in giving Smash a table tennis lesson.  So when Little Adam beat Rob Midgley 3-1 followed by Galeforce beating Dazla by the same margin it was played four, won four for Dragons.  Their current form belied their league position ... they had been energised by that fateful Big Ben Bong on 31 January ... and they were experiencing a Brexit Bounce ... fittingly at The Rainford Labour Club.

Little Adam beat Kraftwerk in the next singles ... and the doubles was won by Dragons too, they looked unstoppable.  It took the left handed guile of substitute Midgley to get some wins on the board for Smash ... he dispensed with Pugwash 3-1 and further down the card he beat Galeforce as well.  On the night it was a resounding 25-12 win for Dragons ... Little Adam was the only unbeaten player on the night and he took away the coveted Man of the Match trophy ... whilst also diligently doing his homework between games.

It was gone 11 when the tables were taken down and the players set off home ... they listened to the Radio 5 phone-in where Jeremy Corbyn was guest pundit.  Jeremy was asked about Wigan League Rule 29 which allows a team to claim the match if the opposition is not there by 8pm.

“I didn’t know of this rule, clearly we need to replay the match with two clear options of a Dragons win or a Smash win ... and I will remain neutral on the outcome”.  We’ll all miss the wise old Jeremy.

Editor's note:-  Oh no we won't!