Wembley for Wids as Leigh edged out
● LEIGH CENTURIONS ........................... 8 WIDNES VIKINGS .............................. 12
WIDNES Vikings produced a heroic display to book their place in the 1895 Cup final and secure a return to Wembley for the first time since 1993, defeating Leigh Centurions 12-8 at the Leigh Sports Village.
Tries from the returning Anthony Gelling and Jack Owens sealed their place in the final, as they outmuscled their opponents in a tight and fierce encounter between the local rivals.
Kieron Purtill made five changes, as Gelling made his long-awaited return to action, with Keanan Brand, Patrick Ah Van, Olly Ashall-Bott and MacGraff Leuluai also coming in.
The game got off to a fiery start as Jordan Johnstone and Mitch Clark were sent to the sin bin after two minutes for their part in a coming together, which came off the back of a Leigh high tackle.
On five minutes the Centurions took a narrow lead, as Sam Wilde held on in the tackle too long and Ryan Brierley kicked a simple penalty goal from in front.
Ah Van denied Adam Higson what looked like a certain try just moments later, as he forced his opposite man into touch as he attempted to cross the whitewash in the corner.
With 13 minutes on the clock, a ball steal gave Jack Owens the chance to level things up with a penalty from 30 metres out, making it 2-2.
A great offload from Dan Norman opened up the Leigh defence shortly after, as Johnstone latched onto the ball to break up the middle and find Joe Lyons in support, who was dragged down just short. On the last play, Brad Walker found Ryan Ince with a cut out
● pass but he didn’t have enough room out wide to convert the chance.
Brierley almost unlocked the Widnes defence with a kick to the corner, but he misjudged the distance as it went sailing over the head of Higson, who would have been in for a simple score.
Walker bounced off a couple of tackles to break up the middle, before his kick bounced off a Centurions defender into the path of Owens. He saw some space in behind and kicked for Ah Van to chase, but there was too much on the kick as it ran dead.
Tempers flared again when Leulaui caught McNally high on the half hour mark, before a great shot by Danny Craven forced a knock on from Jordan Thompson.
Leigh had a final opportunity to attack when Leulaui was penalised for a late shot on McNally, but the visitors defender their line well to force a knock on, with the teams going in level at the break.
Leigh hit the front eight minutes into the second half, as Harrison Hansen was penalised for a second effort and Brierley added his second penalty goal of the contest.
On 54 minutes the first try of the game was finally scored, and it was worth the wait, as Craven dummied a kick and ran it on the last and set Brand racing down the left edge. He found Johnstone in support, who kicked to the right when Gelling was waiting to score in front of the incredible travelling support.
Six minutes later Leigh had a golden opportunity to respond, as Ryan Ince knocked on at the play the ball inside his own 30. The Vikings defended their line heroically, before Marsh knocked on Ridyard’s kick to the corner, as the visitors were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
A brilliant set move unlocked the Centurions defence on 66 minutes, after Craven forced a goal-line dropout with a towering bomb, and from the resulting set he dropped the ball off to Owens, who raced into a hole and rounded the fullback to make it 12-4.
Leigh moved their way deep into the Vikings half with 10 minutes remaining, before Brand was penalised on the last tackle for holding on too long to give them a repeat set, but a huge effort from Lyons forced Iain Thornley to knock on.
With four minutes remaining, the Centurions turned a scrum 10m from the try line into a four pointer, as the ball was shipped to Higson who forced his way over in the corner.
Leigh threw everything they could at the Vikings line in a desperate attempt to snatch a victory, but the heroic defence held out and secure their place in the final, and a longawaited return to Wembley.
Leigh Centurions: Gregg McNally, Adam Higson, Iain Thornley, Junior Sa’u, Stefan Marsh, Martyn Ridyard, Ryan Brierley, Luke Douglas, Micky Higham, Mitch Clark, Toby Adamson, Joe Batchelor, Joe Cator.
Interchanges: Liam Hood, Jordan Thompson, Jake Emmitt, Luke Adamson. Tries: Higson (76) Goals: Brierley 2/3
Widnes Vikings: Jack Owens, Ryan Ince, Anthony Gelling, Keanan Brand, Patrick Ah Van, Danny Craven, Joe Lyons, Jay Chapelhow, Jordan Johnstone, Dan Norman, Sam Wilde, Chris Dean, Brad Walker.
Interchanges: Olly Ashall-Bott, MacGraff Leuluai, Ted Chapelhow, Harrison Hansen. Tries: Gelling (54), Owens (66) Goals: Owens 2/3