IF there was any justice it would be Leigh lining up in the quarter-final for a 1971 Wembley repeat against Leeds.

Instead Leigh's rollercoaster of emotions ended in tears as Widnes plundered a last-gasp Challenge Cup 20-17 win.

Players and fans alike went through a stomach-churning last 10 minutes which saw Leigh win it . . . then lose it.

Almost to a man Leigh's 17 bravehearts sunk to their knees on the pitch in despair at the final hooter. It hurt so much.

Coach Ian Millward was as choked as his players, struggling to keep his emotions in check as he reflected on how his injury-depleted side had come close to pulling it off.

"How can I criticise those lads?" he asked. "All 17 of them busted a gut for their club and its fans. They should be praised, not condemned for letting it slip at the death."

And the fans knew it too. They stayed behind long after the end to give their heroes a standing ovation.

This is a club united again - on and off the pitch.

Millward will put himself through the torture of analysing a video of Sunday's thriller, anxious to see if his gut-feeling that crucial refereeing decisions went against his side and contributed to the final result.

"They had one bloke sent off for a high shot on Stuart Donlan," he said. "But 12 should really have been 11. An horrific spear tackle on young Donlan should have been instant dismissal, not just put on report. And there were crucial decisions on tries that clearly influenced the result."

Referee Steve Ganson will be busy filing reports of the Donlan 'spear' incident and an earlier bust-up between Tau Liku and Damian Munro.

Hopefully, it will leave him time to study his performance . . . great game, shame about the ref.

With half a dozen of his big guns out through injury, Millward turned to his youngsters - and they didn't let him down.

Mark Burrows came up with a stupendous try-saving tackle early on before collecting Murray's cut-out pass and diving in at the corner. Phil Kendrick hit the goal.

But, despite what Millward described as "probably our best defensive effort of the season", Widnes hit back for a 10-6 lead.

Kendrick pulled two points back, but, with 15 minutes left, it was 16-8. Then came the sting in the tail.

Anthony Murray burrowed over for a try, then Donlan put young sub Ian Lewis over in the corner with almost his first touch.

When Kendrick slammed over a long-range field goal Leigh crept 17-16 in front with five minutes left.

But Widnes regained possession from a short re-start, and, from a crossfield bomb came the clinching TD to break Leigh hearts.

TEAM: Donlan; Burrows, Hadcroft, Purtill, Arkwright; Patel, Hilton; Street, Murray, Whittle, Kendrick, Liku, Fairclough. Subs: Lewis, Pucill, Bowker, Jenkins. Att: 4,054.

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