Widnes Vikings 36, Leigh Centurions 16 THE Centurions only got it half right in last night's Division One basement battle.

A second half transformation followed a first half mauling, and gave new coach Norman Turley some reason for optimism.

Leigh showed something like their true character after half time; but by then, only pride was at stake, the League points had long gone as the Vikings plundered 28 first half points, the majority of which came at an average of one a minute.

But with Turley ripping into his side during the interval, Leigh came out a different proposition. They outscored Widens two tries to one, and drew the second half 8-8.

"The damage was done early on," Turley admitted. "We started in the same careless vein we finished against Dewsbur, and by the time we'd got to grips with things, the game was out of reach.

"It's that sort of inconsistency that we've got to remove from our game. A totally committed and focused 80 minutes will see us win more than we lose."

Turley was alarmed at the ease with which the Vikings scored their six first half tries, three of them going to long striding full back Jim Salisbury inside the first 24 minutes.

Leigh's accommodating defence allowed Salisbury to link up almost unmarked, to collect his quick-fire hat-trick. Salisbury laid on another try for winger Damian Munro, although with a suspicion of a forward pass, and there were other touch-downs for Craig Makin and Shane Wilson. Fortunately the usually accurate Mark Hewitt could only convert twice, otherwise Leigh would have been facing an even bigger deficit.

The Centurions only success, 10 minutes from the end of a miserable 40, came when Anthony Murray's crossfield kick was forced down over the line by Stuart Donlan, and Paul Wingfield added the extras.

Murray, back up against his old club, crafted Leigh's second try for Alan Hadcroft a minute after the break, Wingfield's angled conversion making it 28-12.

That proved the spark that lit the Leigh fire. Murray became more of a handful, Andy Grundy started to make headway up the middle, but it was Andy Pucillwhose aggressive lead was the real inspiration.

Even when Aussie centre Wilson grabbed the Vikings seventh try, it came against the run of play. Encouraged by the way they had successfully, if belatedly, managed to plug the defensive gaps, Leigh showed they could play a bit.

Steadier finishing would have brought a try or two before Murray worked a runaround with the impressive Hadcroft and finished in the corner for his 10th try in 15 games.

Clearly anxious to run down the clock and not conceded further, Widnes took an age with a last minute Hewitt penalty; an indication that Leigh had rattled them in the second half.

Leigh: Bowker, Hill, Wingfield, Donlan, Hadcroft, Arkwright, Murray, Grundy, Donohue, Pucill, Norman, Costello, Garces. Subs all played: Gunning, Conway, Liku, Geritas.

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