NEW Year greetings were in short supply at The Coliseum as a head-butting row marred a fine Centurions' win over NL1 rivals Widnes Vikings.

Tony Benson's men were comfortably leading the Chemics when the game boiled over after a knock-on by Leigh prop Richard Moore, who reacted so badly to the error that he laid out Aaron Summers with a high shot and butted an angry Gary Hulse.

Referee Karl Kirkpatrick had no alternative but to reach for the red card with sixteen minutes to go and found little argument from the Leigh coach.

"The player involved knows that he has done wrong", admitted Benson.

It all overshadowed a Leigh performance that oozed spirit and self-control, despite a penalty count showing 14-8 against.