It was bottom against second bottom as the Leigh Centurions made the short trip down the M62 to Widnes to take on the Vikings.

Both sides are desperate for the win to keep alive any hopes of a top eight finish and avoiding the dreaded middle eights competition.



A victory for Leigh would lift them above the Warrington Wolves and into tenth place, four points behind eighth placed Wigan Warriors but defeat to Widnes would see them drop below the Viking to the bottom of the table.



Although this was the weekend’s basement fixture there was enough at stake to make it a mouthwatering prospect.

Leigh Centurions hadn’t beaten tonight’s Super League ‘State of Mind’ opponents Wigan Warriors for thirty-three years.



A win would lift the hosts above the Widnes Vikings and off the bottom of the league, but the victory was also crucial for Wigan who were in danger of slipping out of touch with the all-important top four and out of the play-off place that their fans demand.



Both sides were struggling with injuries and were without many first choice first teamers.

Leigh were notably without Hock and Higham, and Wigan without the suspended Farrell and injured skipper O’Loughlin amongst many others.

It was never anything but a clear Leigh victory on offer in a game that was all about confidence – or the lack of it – when the Centurions entertained Warrington at Leigh Sports Village.



The hosts ran out 22-8 victors, and climbed to fourth in the table, with victory in the opening match of Super League round 5 against a Wolves team clearly lacking belief despite featuring in both last season’s finals and convincingly beating Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Series just weeks ago.

The Ladbrokes Challenge Cup got underway with an all National Conference League clash between Leigh Miners Rangers and Wigan St Patricks at the Twist Lane ground.

The game had been chosen as the focus game of the round and would be shown live by the BBC as part of their enhanced coverage of the 2017 competition.



One of sixteen first round fixtures, the winners would be embarking on a gruelling sequence of games which could see them pitted against semi-pro and then professional sides as they progressed through the competition.

With both the Rhinos and the Centurions already guaranteed Super League places for next season all that was to play for at Headingley was the pride of finishing at the top of the Super 8s Qualifiers table.



As an added incentive, the Bev Risman Trophy would be competed for for the first time in honour of the Leeds and Leigh legend.



Leigh brought a five month long unbeaten record to Headingley and we're taking on a Rhinos side who lost at Huddersfield last weekend and who were without a handful of regular first-teamers including McGuire, Burrow, and Garbutt.

It was a crucial match for both sides as Leigh Centurions looked to maintain the 100% Qualifiers record as they visited the Lightstream Stadium to take on Hull KR who themselves desperately needed the win to get them into the automatic Super League positions going into the last three games.



It was third against fourth, Super League against Championship, and the most exciting looking Qualifiers game of the weekend.



A big seventh-five points win would put Leigh top while a thirty-eight point win for KR would see them go second ahead of Huddersfield Giants.

In a dress-rehearsal for what many have tipped to be the 'Million Pound Game' come the end of the season, the Wakefield Wildcats travelled to Leigh Sports Village to take on a Centurions side still looking for their first win in the Super 8s Qualifiers.



Wakefield were full of confidence after last weekends win over the Bradford Bulls but there was an air of desperation around Leigh as they knew full well that a loss this afternoon could bury their hopes of Super League in 2016.



The sunny and dry conditions were perfect for a classic match.

While the prestige is in the Super League Super 8s, the interest is in the Qualifiers 8s where the battle for four 2016 Super League spots will be contested by eight very capable sides.



With a clean points slate the top four Championship teams get to pit their skills against the bottom four Super League sides from the opening part of the season.

There are some mouthwatering prospects which would take a brave man to predict the outcomes, and today the actions starts with Leigh Centurions against a Hull KR side with one eye on their first Wembley appearance since 1986.



The Leigh Sports Village stage was all set for a titanic battle.