Leigh Centurions 16 Wigan Warriors 30 by Mike Hulme: THERE was no love lost between rival Aussie coaches Paul Terzis and Stuart Raper when a bitter war of words broke out after the Warriors had survived a bruising Challenge Cup quarter-final.

And a match in which seven players were sin-binned saw Leigh fans warned that the game could be abandoned after plastic beer bottles were thrown onto the pitch.

Raper's main concern were events on the field.

"We knew what type of game they were planning. They'd been talking it up all week about 'tribal warfare' and they certainly went about their business in that manner.

"Stuart Cummings refereed the game as best he could. We didn't come here for a fight, we came here to play rugby league."

Terzis blasted back, saying: "If Stuart has a problem with our discipline, he should first look at his side. We had three players sin-binned and they had four, that tells a story in itself.

"The bottom line is that our forwards outmuscled theirs - and they didn't like it."

Terzis pointed to one crucial second half moment that turned the game. Neil Turley thought he had sheperded Adrian Lam's deep kick over the deadball line. But on the advice of the in-goal official, referee Cummings overturned his original 20-metre tap decision, ordered a drop out and from the next set of six, Brett Dallas gave Wigan the lead for the first time in the game.

"That cost us the game," says Terzis. "We lost the plot after that for five or ten minutes."

Leigh could not have wished for a better start in front of a full house. They roared into a 10-0 lead with a try from ex-Wigan winger Chris Irwin and three goals from the radar boot of Turley.

The underdogs from the NFP had their tails up and were still good value for their lead even after Andy Farrell had pulled six points back with a controversial score under the posts. But it did give Wigan a foothold back into the match and when Mick Cassidy burst through just before the break, it was all square at 10-10.

Dallas's dubious score after 47 minutes put Wigan in front for the first time but Leigh were still in the hunt and when Paul Rowley put Jon Roper over after 63 minutes and Turley added his fourth goal, just two points divided the sides at 16-18.

But Julian O'Neill, previously anonymous settled the tie in the final nine minutes. He shot through a tiring defence for one try and then broke clear again to send sub David Hodgson in with his first touch.

A proud Terzis concluded: "My team cost £150,000; Stuart's cost £3m and a 16 point winning margin flattered them."