KENDAL RUFC director of rugby Steve Whitehead was delighted with the way his side saw out their fixtures ahead of this weekend's deciding derby with Kirkby Lonsdale.

The Hornets have been in perfect form since taking the lead of the North One West division, and they kept that up with a 45-17 win over Leigh.

But for Whitehead the important thing has been maintaining the concentration each week as the division's two titans have routinely picked up wins.

"We were very happy with that (the Leigh game)," said Whitehead.

"We had a good week of preparation with the coaches and I thought we just had much more composure and better concentration, particularly the second half performance, that set us up very well."

The early exchanges of this potential banana skin were fairly evenly contested but it was obvious that Leigh had plenty of pace in the backs to test Kendal, whose title aspirations are now firmly in their own hands ahead of the Kirkby Lonsdale showdown.

In the 13th minute the first score came when Matty Houghton went over from a catch and drive with Glenn Weightman duly adding the conversion.

Leigh got their first points in the 34th minute when their number 8 Chris Boyle broke from the back of a lineout to go over, but the resulting conversion attempt was missed.

It had been a tense opening 40 minutes, but the Hornets were flying at the start of the second.

Centre Danny Barker plunged over after good work by Liam Hayton and James Gough, Weightman again adding the two.

Ten minutes later from a rolling maul the ball found its way to winger Zane Butler to go over, the conversion this time being missed and the score 19-5. Kendal by now were keeping play tight to keep the speedy back line of Leigh in check.

On the hour mark Kendal were penalised at a lineout and Leigh's Boyle went over for his second try. Marcus Maurice Williams kicked the conversion to reduce the visitor's arrears even further.

But any fears of the early nerves returning were short lived as sub James Thompson scored after driving from a lineout before Weightman did what he does best from the kick.

Damian Armstrong added another try in the 72nd minute, but of more importance was a nasty-looking injury to winger Butler, who will be desperate to return in time for next week.

Mark Carruthers and a spectacular solo effort from Weightman saw further Kendal tries in the dying moments, while Boyle completed his hat-trick for Leigh.

A bonus-point win has become the norm in the latter stages of the season as the Hornets have looked to keep Kirkby Lonsdale at bay. Everything now comes down to next week's finale with the gap still just two points.