LEIGH CENTURIONS 24 WIDNES VIKINGS 10 by Martyn Hindley: The days of full-blooded pre-season trial games are back!

With commitment, dedication and an almost unfathomably impressive desire to put the disappointments of 2005 behind them, the Centurions used the blood and thunder 'friendly' against Widnes to lay a timely reminder to the Chemics that the league campaign to come won't be one-way traffic.

Steve McCormack's men are favourites for NL1 and arrived at The Coliseum on the back of a Boxing Day win over Warrington, when Mark Smith ran the show at hooker and Australian full-back David Peachey turned on the style on debut.

But the Vikings rested both leaving Leigh - without half a team of stars themselves - to dominate from the outset.

Centurions' pack won the early arm-wrestle in sharp drizzle that further tested ball-handling conditions on a slippery surface. Starting props Richard Moore and Matty Bottom forced yard-upon-yard with bullocking runs supplemented by the solidity of Tere Glassie and Tommy Grundy in the second row, both of whom look class acts.

Indeed it was Grundy who supplied the opening score in the ninth minute, the first of two pieces of impressive finishing from Leigh that split the sides at the break.

Pressure from the home side forced Vikings second rower Paul Alcock to kick on the last and his sliced clearance allowed Leigh to batter their way to the edge of the red zone. Once there, they speared down the right and Grundy powered through tackles from Adam Bowman and Damien Reid to plunge over.

O'Neill was dead-eye with the conversion to make it 6-0 but it was his mischievous kicking in-play that caused the major carnage for try number two. His bomb turned around full-back Gavin Dodd who always looked likely to spill it and when he did, Glassie pounced on the proceeds. His clever under-arm flick found numbers on the left and sent Lee Greenwood across via the swift hands of Danny Speakman.

The desire was bursting through the tight new shirts and a crowd well in excess of 2,000 salivated over the prospect of at least four further meetings between the two sides in 2006.

But Centurions wanted to get win number one under their belts first so they followed up the tries with tough-tackling sets and a desire emphasised in Aaron Heremaia, who dislocated a shoulder only to have it popped back into place and play to the death.

The over-zealousness occasionally showed itself in an unkind penalty count but Leigh can reflect on that as a statistical anomoly and something to work on over the next month rather than a pressing concern.

Their willingness also meant that the play was often forced and such a move offered Widnes a route back into the contest seven minutes after the break. Adam Bibey coughed up the ball trying to offload thirty metres from his own line and Lucas Onyango scampered down the wing to complete a four-point punishment.

Julian O'Neill had goaled a penalty just before half-time so the visitors still trailed 12-4 and needed to breach the Leigh line twice in the game's final quarter. Their task was theoretically simplified by a monumental rush of blood to Richard Moore's head.

Frustrated at a knock-on sixteen minutes from time, Moore swished a high shot to flatten substitute Aaron Summers as he looked to dive on the ball. As Widnes players rushed in to remonstrate and tempers started to boil, Moore indefensibly butted scrum-half Gary Hulse and Karl Kirkpatrick had no alternative but to wave the red card.

The one man deficiency didn't show and Leigh in fact scored two tries after being reduced to twelve men.

Julian O'Neill split his former club apart with a measured grubber that Grundy dived on for the sealing try and then Scott Grix landed a replica after winning a foot race to Heremaia's neat dab to the in-goal area.

Paul Crook's little jink to the line from close range was minor consolation for Widnes, who were well beaten in the firiest of pre-season clashes seen at The Coliseum in years.

"I'm delighted with a lot of things that our boys did out there", enthused Centurions coach Tony Benson after receiving the Kegwatch Challenge trophy.

"I'm proud of the enthusiasm and effort and when we were down to twelve men I thought it was especially tough for us but we dealt with it.

"If we put it into perspective, we were both missing players so I don't know how much it can actually say about the season to come but it's still a good win for us", he added.

Leigh: Grix, Manu, Pemberton, Speakman, Greenwood, O'Neill, Forber, Bottom, Sykes, Moore, Grundy, Glassie, Roberts. Subs: Rowley, Duffy, Hill, Heremaia, Cookson, Munro, A Bibey.

T: Grundy 9 mins, 71, Greenwood 13, Grix 80.

G: O'Neill 3/4, Grix 1/1

Widnes: Dodd, Onyango, Woods, Reid, Bowman, Coyle, Hulse, Johnson, Crook, Tandy, Alcock, Donahue, Nanyn. Subs: Hulmes, Summers, O'Connor, Heaton, Millington, Sidlow, Yates.

T: Onyango 47, Crook 76.

G: Crook 0/1, Nanyn 1/1

Half-Time: 12-0

Penalty count: 8-14

GLDO: 4-3

Referee: Karl Kirkpatrick (Warrington)

Man of the Match: O'Neill and Grix laid strong claims but Tere Glassie put in some tremendous stints in the second row to highlight just why Tony Benson signed him from Oldham. Solid and dependable.

Moment of the Match: The defensive set immediately after Leigh's second try: five hard, committed hits intimidated Widnes and laid a psychological marker for the season to come.

Moan of the Match: It goes without saying that Richard Moore's headbutt was an act of madness but the decision of some fans to cheer him down the tunnel was nearly as reprehensible.