Centurions 26 - 45 Whitehaven Warriors
Whitehaven finished strongly in the first league action of the season at Hilton Park. Warriors ran in 3 tries to 1 in the final quarter after Leigh had taken the lead.
The Warrior's victory was marred by the loss of influential kiwi Joe in the first minute, injured while scoring the opening try. Despite this early setback Whitehaven had built a 16-6 lead by half-time. On-loan stand-off Liam Bretherton, one of 20 players cut by Warrington in 1998 marked his debut with two well-worked tries. In reply, Leigh's Andy Fairclough added a powerful finish from 25 metres.
Leigh made a good start to the second half. Early territorial advantage was rewarded when John Costello crashed in off Pucill's short, bullet pass. O'Loughlin converted and Leigh were back in the contest at 12-16.
Two minutes later, it was Whitehavens turn. The ball went through several pairs of hands before Lewthawaite, finished in the corner. Previous Leigh sides may have capitulated but the Centurions stuck to their game and were rewarded with 2 tries in 3 minutes that put the centurions in front. Fairclough crossed for his second following a solo run over 40 metres. O'Loughlin couldn't convert but added the extras when Costello collected a Hilton grubber kick that rebounded off two pairs of legs into the grateful arms of the Leigh second row forward.
The Centurions lead lasted just three minutes before the excellent Lee Kiddie fooled everyone and skipped past Matt Nixon for a converted try under the posts.
Kiddie turned provider on 60 minutes when his slick distribution found Allen unmarked in midfield for the warrior to brush aside weak defence and score a 6 pointer.
At 22-32 Whitehaven had all but won the game. The warriors continued to press for further points. Kiddie added a 65th minute drop goal before an impressive Morton scored a converted try in the corner.
Leigh didn't give in and gained consolation when Dave Ingram took the ball and jinked his way through from 15 metres for an unconverted score. There was still enough time for Whitehaven to complete the scoreboard as Kiddie found Leigh's tired defence easy picking to register his second try. Hetherington kicked his sixth goal and Warriors were home 45-26.
Matt Nixon and John Costello were in excellent form while Fairclough again outshone his colleagues in the backs.
The Centurions showed fighting spirit to take the lead but Whitehaven slipped into higher gear and beat Leigh with an exhilarating final quarter.
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