Leigh Centurions...16

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HAT a game! This really was a match that had everything.

Packed terraces and stands, passion, blood and thunder action, controversy, more passion and a war of words - and then even more passion.

The fervour generated by Leigh's renewed battles with the old enemy from the USA (Uther Side Of Abram) showed what we've been missing all these years.

Incident followed incident and talking point followed talking point. It was that kind of game.

Sure, there were those who chose to spoil the occasion with their throwing of plastic beer bottles. It must be a reminder to Centurions' chiefs that if Leigh do harbour serious claims of joining Super League next year there are one or two problems to be sorted out first. That said, however, it's not a problem exclusive to Leigh.

The media headlines the following day detracted from those who deserved the most credit for presenting us with a wonderful occasion - the players.

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ecause of the crowd trouble Leigh will probably not get the credit they deserve outside their own boundaries. But Paul Terzis' heroes had all true Leyther's hearts bursting with pride.

The scoreboard may have read 30-16 at the end, but don't be fooled. Leigh were right in this game up until the last nine minutes and they will surely take great heart for the promotion battles that lie ahead.

Of 205 competitive games between the two sides since 1895, Leigh have won just 54. You would have got long odds before kick off on them making it 55 but Leigh's part-timers scared the pants off their moneybags neighbours and given a equal rub of the green could now be preparing for a Challenge Cup semi-final.

Yes, it was that close.

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nly in the final nine minutes, when Wigan went in for two tries, was the outcome finally decided. Before that the Centurions had led 10-0, trailed 18-10 before fighting back to within two points to give Wigan one of their most uncomfortable afternoons in cup history.

Don't believe for one minute chief pie-eater Stuart Raper's bellyaching about Leigh's lack of discipline. Admittedly there were occasions when Leigh weren't squeaky clean but what had got under Raper's skin was that the Centurions stood up to Wigan's team of 17 internationals and matched them every inch of the way.

Wigan expected Leigh to roll over. They didn't.

And when Raper later complained: "We didn't come here for a fight, we came here for a Rugby League game," it only added fuel to the flames.

At the end of a game which had seven sin-binnings Raper said: "We knew what their tactics were going to be. They've been talking all week about 'tribal warfare' and they certainly went about their business in that manner.

"Stuart Cummings refereed the game as best he could, although he could have given us a lot more penalties."

Terzis was clearly stung by Raper's accusations and responded: "If Stuart is concerned about my team's discipline, then I suggest he look at his own side first. We had three players binned, they had four. Perhaps that tells it's own story.

"People who know Leigh know we're not a dirty team. But we won't be intimidated and we'll stand up to intimidation."

Wigan's discipline, or lack of it, was evident early when they gave away half a dozen in quick succession. But Leigh only got two more in the entire match as the referee handed 15 to the Warriors.

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eigh were out of the traps like greyhounds, startling Wigan with the quality and strength of their forward rushes. The tempo for the game was set as early as the fifth minute when Dave Bradbury and Dave Furner were the first

pair in the bin after trading a right jab or two. Wigan were on the back foot and fell behind when Terry O'Connor was penalised for holding down and then for dissent. Leigh didn't hang about to debate the issue, a quick tap penalty saw Neil Turley hit the line and pop a pass up just before he hit the deck to get winger Chris Irwin sliding in at the corner. A sweet moment for two Wigan 'rejects'.

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urley's radar boot added the extras from the touchline and two further penalties from either side of the 40-metre line gave Leigh an improbable 10-0 lead after 14 minutes; the second penalty again given away by O'Connor who was yellow carded for obstruction.

The celebrations on the terraces had barely died away when Andy Farrell's quick thinking caught the Leigh defence unawares, the loose-forward forcing his way over to give Wigan a foothold in the game.

Encouraged by Farrell's score, Wigan tuned up the heat. Brett Dallas missed one chance and Turley held the winger up over the line not long afterwards. But they eventually restored parity when Julian O'Neill dropped Mick Cassidy off back on the inside and he was able to steal in to make it 10-apiece at half time.

The game was perfectly set up for the second half and it was Leigh who were first out of the blocks again.

Paul Rowley was unlucky not to put his side back in front when he charged down Farrell's attempted clearance kick just 90 seconds in and Liam Bretherton was a gnat's whisker away from wriggling over at the left corner.

But the real turning point came with a 47th minute decision that infuriated Leigh and coach Terzis.

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hen Turley met Adriam Lam's long punt in his own in-goal area, the Leigh full-back appeared to shepherd the rolling ball dead. But Cummings' original ruling of a 20-metre tap restart was over-turned by the in-goal judge and from Simon Baldwin's subsequent miscued drop out Dallas got in at the corner to give Wigan the lead for the first time.

Leigh were furious and Rowley was binned for speaking out of turn.

"That one decision gave the initiative to Wigan," complained Terzis. "It turned out to be the major turning point of the whole match. We were so angry that a wrong call had been made that we lost control of what we were doing in our game for five or 10 minutes."

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efore Leigh had got their heads back together, Farrell had accepted two penalty shots to ease Wigan into an 18-10 lead.

But Leigh wouldn't lie down and almost got in again when Vila Matautia's surging drive ended with Adam Bristow having the ball stripped by Cassidy as he lunged for the line. No try and Cassidy was sin-bin occupant number five.

It was almost inevitable that Leigh would score again - and they did two minutes later. Rowley's smart blind side break brought Jon Roper into the game and the centre went in.

As bottles rained onto the pitch and Baldwin and Johnson were shown yellow for scrapping, Turley kept his nerve to bang over his fourth success and make it 'game on' again.

It finally took a touch of class from the largely anonymous O'Neill to seal the part-timers' fate. The stand-off's clever side step and burst of pace got him over out wide and Farrell's touchline conversion just about made sure the Warriors would be in the last four.

When O'Neill broke again just before time to get sub David Hodgson in, Farrell turning four into six, it gave Wigan the sort of winning margin they didn't deserve.

It was a proud Terzis who summed it all up when he said: "We had 17 heroes out there who we assembled for just £150,000. Their team cost £3m. That speaks volumes for what this Leigh side has achieved today."

Match Facts

SCORERS: Leigh - Tries: Irwin (5), Roper (63). Gls: Turley 4 from 4.

Wigan - Tries: Farrell (18), Cassidy (36), Dallas (47), O'Neill (71), Hodgson (77). Gls: Farrell 5 from 7.

Leigh: Turley; Bretherton, Anderson, Roper, Irwin; Svabic, Swann; Ball, Rowley, Bradbury, Baldwin, Isherwood, Bristow. Subs: Whittle (for Isherwood 29), Hamilton (for Swann 49), McCully (for Irwin 71), Matautia (for Ball 19), Ball (for Matautia BB 42 BBR 59), Isherwood (for Whittle 59), Swann (for Bradbury 76).

Wigan: Radlinski; Dallas, Ainscough, P.Johnson, Carney; O'Neill, Lam; O'Connor, Newton, C.Smith, Cassidy, Furner, Farrell. Subs: Hodgson (for Furner 76), Howard (for Bibey 52), M.Smith (for Newton 64), Bibey (for C.Smith 21), C.Smith (for O'Connor 75).

PENALTIES CONCEDED: Leigh 15, Wigan 8.

HANDLING ERRORS: Leigh 7, Wigan 7.

SIN-BINS: Bradbury (7) - fighting; Furner (7) - fighting; O'Connor (15) obstruction; Rowley (47) - dissent; Cassidy (63) ball stealing; Baldwin (66) - fighting; Johnson (66) fighting.

REFEREE: Stuart Cummings (Widnes).

ATTENDANCE: 9760.