Leigh Centurions v. Whitehaven Warriors preview

By Matt Lawton
June 7 2003

The Centurions welcome the Whitehaven team and a legion of Warriors fans to The Coliseum for what is sure to be a bruising Arriva Trains Cup encounter.

The game will once again be preceeded by plenty of pre-match entertainment as Leigh continue with their "Road to Super League" pre-match experience. They will have a huge crowd to entertain with more than nine coachloads of Whitehaven supporters expected to make the long journey down from Cumbria for this vital Arriva Trains Cup Semi Final, with the victors facing either Salford or Batley in the final which is to be played at Rochdale Hornets' Spotland stadium.

The sides met earlier this season when in Leigh's opening home game of the season, the Centurions ground out a hard fought 19-12 victory over a dogged and physical Whitehaven side on Easter Monday.

The meeting that will stick in the minds of both sets of supporters however will be last season's meeting between the sides in the Challenge Cup at Hilton Park. Despite Leigh conceding a try with to put them ten points behind the Warriors with barely four minutes remaining, two late, late Leigh tries including one in the very last minute from Paul Norman followed by a Neil Turley conversion saw Leigh win by two points and ultimately earnt the Centurions a money-spinning quarter final tie against deadly local rivals Wigan in the next round. However, the match was overshadowed by Whitehaven supporters accusing the Leigh supporters of being violent towards the 'Haven fans and even included allegations of baseball bats being used by Leigh supporters in the ground. Unsuprisingly these allegations were proved to be untrue but they left a sour taste in the mouth and that is still evident in some sections of the support of each club which will certainly add extra spice to the occasion.

Centurions coach Paul Terzis has promised a "thriller" but he will be without former Doncaster centre Dale Cardoza, who was handed a three match ban at a disciplinary hearing earlier this week, and former Salford half back John Duffy who is out through injury. It is unclear who will fill in for Cardoza as his natural replacement, Phil Kendrick, suffered an injury in last weekend's 55-14 victory over Doncaster when standing in for the then injured Cardoza. Duffy's replacement is more clear-cut however, with young Leigh youth product, and National League representative, Lee Sanderson set to step into Duffy's boots following an impressive cameo appearance last weekend although he didn't finish the game after he was sin binned with eight minutes remaining for fighting.

The same spirit will be required this weekend as Cumbrian sides are renowned for having an uncompromising attitude and certainly being very physical. It's sure to be a rip-roaring afternoon of fantastic rugby league at The Coliseum, get down to the game and cheer the lads on.