Leigh Centurions 30 Whitehaven 16 by Mike Hulme: THE Centurions are again just 80 minutes away from a place in Super League.

Their victory over closest rivals Whitehaven on Sunday sees them through to their third National League One Grand Final in a row and their fourth in five years.

They now play at Widnes on October 10, but will have to wait another week to discover their opponents with Whitehaven taking on Featherstone in the elimination semi-final.

Despite beating Whitehaven for a third time in four meetings this season, Leigh did not have things all their own way. They took an early 10-0 lead with tries from Rob Smyth and Danny Halliwell, both made possible by John Duffy and Oli Wilkes.

Yet it all threatened to go wrong when Whitehaven roared back with tries from Ryan Tandy and Craig Calvert, plus three goals from Mick Nanyn to lead 14-10. Leigh, however, drew level on the last play of the first half when David Alstead went over from Willie Swann's clever kick.

A Neil Turley drop goal then put Leigh ahead and when Duffy put David Larder in and Turley booted a penalty, the Centurions had a seven-point cushion.

Leigh had to dig deep when they conceded a penalty to Nanyn, but then finished with a flourish and late tries from Larder and Alstead made the victory look much more straightforward.

Coach Darren Abram will now lead his side into the Grand Final at the end of his first season in charge.

"The job's not done yet but we set our stall out to win the Arriva Trains, the Minor Premiers trophy and the Grand Final. We've got two of those in the trophy cabinet, now we need to go on and complete the set."