THREE of the Centurions' smallest players turned in giant performances as Leigh took a major step towards qualification for the quarter-finals of the Buddies National League Cup.

With the score at Leigh Centurions 50, Workington Town 24, a second successive big win in the tournament puts the Centurions behind Barrow at the top of the West Division table but with a game in hand. And if mini marvels John Duffy, Willie Swann and Liam Bretherton keep reproducing this kind of form, there's little Leigh can't achieve.

Despite having the number nine shirt on his back, Duffy rarely saw the inside of a scrum all afternoon. Instead he struck an immediate understanding with Swann, the pair carving Town open time after time.

On his second Leigh debut after an unhappy spell at Chorley, Duffy's range of passes gave the Centurions the sort of attacking edge they've been missing.

And with scrum-half Swann continuing in his rich vein of form, Leigh always had more than enough ammunition to shoot Town down.

Bretherton, again deputising for the injured Neil Turley, was flawless at full-back. Rock solid under the high ball, sound in defence and eager to link with his outside backs, Turley knows he now has genuine competition breathing down his neck for the number one shirt.

No-one was more pleased to have Duffy back and firing than coach Paul Terzis. "John's put in helluva lot of hard work over the last two weeks and he'll be the first to admit that he's still got a long way to go. We only bring players in to this club we know have quality. It was a good start for John and I'm pleased for him and he'll only improve with time."

For a second week running Terzis heaped praise on Swann's shoulders. "He just keeps getting better and better and the challenge for him now is to maintain that for throughout the rest of the season. He's set himself a bench mark now and knows what is at the end of the tunnel for him and the team.

"Liam Bretherton was outstanding today. He played two roles for us; full-back defensively and dummy half in attack. He was all over the field and didn't put a foot wrong."

The contributions of Duffy, Swann and Bretherton can't be overstated. Duffy came up with three assists for tries by Mark McCully, Andy Isherwood and rookie backrower Anthony Blackwood; Swann scored one of Leigh's nine tries and helped set up three more while Bretherton backed up his defensive duties with his 11th try of the season, just one behind leading scorer Turley.

Then there was a glimpse of the future with impressive performances from young backrowers Ian Hodson and Blackwood.

"Scoring a try on your first team debut is great for young Blackwood," says Terzis. "We've built a good structure here with regard to youth development and the evidence of that is there for all to see. Hodson did a terrific job when he came on and he and Blackwood now have the chance to push for more regular places."

While Leigh scored some stunning tries, they bombed quite a few more because of their habit of trying to score off every play. And they still havn't plugged the gaps in defence which repeatedly sees them leak soft tries.

It wasn't until the final 20 minutes that Leigh were finally able to escape Town's challenge. Before that they had the Cumbrians on the canvas and let them up again.

Town struck the first blow when they caught Leigh with a sixth minute counter-punch after Eric Andrews had tossed out a wild pass. Leigh couldn't regroup quickly enough and Jamie Beaumont sent Matthew Woodcock over at the corner for Tane Manihera to tag on the extras.

Duffy had already made a promising start when his cut-out pass was met by McCully at full gallop, the centre sprinting in from 20 metres.

Twenty-three minutes in Bretherton's break set up the position where Swann could show a bit of nifty footwork to take him under the posts. The first of McCully's seven goals put Leigh 10-6 up.

Three uncharacteristic missed tackle back to back allowed Carl Sice to put Town ahead for a second time with a try converted by Manihera.

But the deficit last just four minutes as David Ingram took his career tries tally to 99 when Manihera's pass rebounded off Steve McGrady's chest and into the welcoming arms of the Leigh winger.

Leigh looked like taking a 16-12 lead in for the break until Stuart Hoyles was the first to react to Manihera's tryline grubber and it was Town who went in 18-16 to the good.

Within 90 seconds Leigh had wiped out the deficit. Swann exploded through a gap and sent Adam Bristow striding in for the first of his two tries. The lead became one of 10 points when Swann got Andrews racing through a broken defence to make it 28-18.

But the match was back on a knife-edge when Lokeni Savelio wrestled his way over from close in and Manihera knocked over his fourth goal.

It was only then that Leigh really stepped up the tempo and finished with four more tries in the last 20 minutes.

Swann's pass sent Andy Isherwood clear, the loose-forward keeping his head choosing just the right moment to release and get Bristow in for his second.

Leigh punished Town for another dropped pass when Dave Whittle drove strongly for the line and Bretherton threw himself over from dummy half. Duffy's short pass ended with a 10th of the season for Isherwood and in the closing minutes Duffy's break was supported by the eager Hodson who put fellow rookie Blackwood over.

Match Facts

SCORERS: Leigh - Tries: Bristow (41, 61); McCully (11); Swann (23); Ingram (32); Andrews (51); Bretherton (68); Isherwood (72); Blackwood (78). Gls: McCully 7 from 10.

Workington - Tries: Woodcock (6); Sice (28); Hoyles (39); Savelio (55). Gls: Manihera 4 from 4.

Leigh: Bretherton; Ingram, McCully, Anderson, Andrews; Bristow, Swann; Ball, Duffy, Bradbury, Baldwin, Morley, Isherwood. Subs: Knox (for Ball 21), Blackwood (for Morley 57), Hodson (for Isherwood 34 BB, BBR 48), Whittle (for Bradbury 27); Bradbury (for Knox 66); Hodson (for Swann 74); Ball (for Whittle 70).

Workington: Frazer; McGrady, Hetherington, Beaumont, Woodcock; Wood, Manihera; Tunstall, Sice, Okesene, Hoyles, Samuel, Charlton. Subs: Wright (for Tunstall 19); Savelio (for Okesene 19); Rumney (for Sice HT); Nixon (not used); Okesene (for Wright 52).

Penalties conceded: Leigh 4, Workington 7.

Handling errors: Leigh 15, Workington 9.

Referee: Mike Dawber (Wigan).

Attendance: 1657.

Man of the match

rA THREE-WAY tie between the dynamic Duffy, Swann and Bretherton. Towering performances from three of the smallest players at Hilton Park.

Magic Moment

rTHE beaming smile of the face of Academy back rower Anthony Blackwood after his 78th minute debut try. It clearly meant a lot to him.

Moan of the Match

rMIKE Dawber refereed Leigh for the first time. Hopefully it will be the last until he's less lenient on teams who deliberately try to slow things down at the play the ball.