Leigh Centurions 18

Widnes Vikings 26

By Mike Hulme IT'S hard to know which is worst; losing in last year's Grand Final or falling at the semi-final stage this time. But the agony stays the same for Paul Terzis and his team.

Leigh were physically and emotionally drained after seeing a 12-4 half time lead wiped out by the marauding Vikings in the second half.

Leigh dominated the competition until it came to the business end of the season when their dream became their worst nightmare.

"To win 35 out of 39 games and pick up a couple of trophies along the way shows how good a rugby league side we are and then to come into a game like this one and control it for a considerable time, only to lose is a major disappointment," Terzis admitted.

"You can't knock the players for their effort. We've been the most consistent side throughout the year. Everyone at the club deserves a pat on the back."

But Terzis knows that Leigh had the game well under control at half time and really should have gone on to win and reach their second successive Grand Final.

"We went away from our game plan in the second half and once we got away from that we started playing panic football, losing our poise and control. Widnes took full advantage of that.

"We were without Neil Turley today and you must miss a player who's scored 56 tries but that shouldn't take the gloss off Liam Bretherton who came in and did a magnificent job."

Leigh made the sort of start they dreamed of by taking an 8-0 lead inside the first seven minutes. Chris Morley thundered over for a try and Simon Svabic added a conversion and a penalty.

The Vikings gave an early warning that they fancied their chances on the flanks when winger Chris Percival raced in at the left corner in the 18th minute.

But Leigh restored their advantage when a Svabic bomb caused panic in the Widnes defence and Bretherton flicked a pass away to get Alan Hadcroft over by the flag.

Widnes improved considerably after the break while Leigh found it difficult to put the Vikings under any sustained pressure.

It was Leigh who cracked first when Damien Munro got a fingertip to Martin Crompton's slide-rule kick to the corner and Craig Weston added the touchline conversion to make it 12-10.

Widnes took the lead for the first time in the 61st minute when Percival picked up his second. Four minutes later Munro went in on the opposite flank. Richard Agar added a field goal and suddenly Leigh were 19-12 down.

They pulled it back to 18-19 when Phil Kendrick glided in for Leigh's third try but their hopes of pulling the game out of the fire were ruined in the final four minutes as Widnes stretched clear with a Simon Knox field goal, Chris McKinney try and Weston conversion.