PROUD Phil Veivers paid tribute to his 14-man Workington Town squad after they ran Championship table-toppers Leigh Centurions close before going down 40-24.

As injuries continue to take their toll at the Zebra Claims Stadium, coach Veivers had 11 players on the treatment table and had to name three subs on his bench that would not take any part in proceedings.

Despite this, Town put in a superb performance to match Leigh man-for-man across the board and it was only a short period in the second half that gave the visitors the upper-hand.

Leigh ran in three tries in 10 minutes to snatch the game from the home side, who deserved every minute of the standing ovation they were given by an appreciative crowd.

Veivers said: “We have had a lot of adversity over the last week. We went into the Whitehaven game with 16 players and today we could only put 14 out as we had 11 injuries, so I was very proud of them.

“In the first half we gifted them field position for two tries so I was disappointed in that, but we were pretty upbeat at half time and playing with a smile on our face,” he added.

“We said we could give them a show in the second half but midway through we didn’t see the ball for about 15 minutes and they came away with three tries which took the game away from us, but the lads stuck in and picked off a try at the death.

“There was a lot of passion out there and belief in what they can do. Leigh are top of the table and we have been struggling from the start to get in a good run of form.

“If you look at it over the weekend, against Whitehaven we had enough opportunities to score points and we didn’t and today we only failed to take two of the opportunities we created.

“It could have been a different kettle of fish if Tee Ritson had got his hand to the ball on the kick through in the first half.

“But we were in with a shout and I’m really proud of them. They fought for each other and for the shirt they were wearing.”