LEIGH Centurions found a Warrington Wolves side missing 10 regulars too hot to handle at The Halliwell Jones Stadium and fell 44-18.

Although Kurt Haggerty’s basement side scored the first try of the second half to cut the arrears to 14-6, they were always kept at arm’s length and faded in the closing minutes.

Leigh, without a win in 12 Super League outings and having only 18 players available to select from, lost prop Tyrone McCarthy four minutes into the contest when he was knocked out attempting to tackle Tongan Sitaleki Akauola.

Although Centurions recovered well from that setback, the deadlock was broken when Blake Austin went alone and evaded Ben Reynolds’ challenge after nine minutes, with Widdop converting.

Matt Davis then strolled through a huge whole left by replacement prop Nathan Peteru and it was 12-0 with 16 minutes played.

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Leigh started to get into the arm wrestle and forced some repeat sets in the second quarter but lacked penetration before Widdop booted over a 32nd minute penalty to extend Wire’s lead.

Liam Hood burrowed over early in the second half on the back of a succession of penalties and with Ryan Brierley converting things were looking up for Leigh.

But it was shortlived, with Danny Walker making a half break and Ellis Longstaff carrying on before the supporting Widdop slid over and converted to restore the 14-point advantage.

And soon after, Josh Charnley walked over from a Widdop looping pass to leave Leigh with a mountain to climb.

A lifeline came from Junior Sa’u’s powerful surge and score despite three defenders clinging on, with Brierley’s extras making it 26-12.

The tit-for-tat scoring continued though with Walker crossing from dummy half and Widdop converting.

Young prop Eribe Doro sealed the outcome with a close-range cross-over 10 minutes from time and a 90-metre Lineham interception effort rubbed salt into the wounds.

Mark Ioane’s converted try after a Matty Gee break completed the scoring two minutes from time.

Wolves: Thewlis; Charnley, Mamo, Wrench, Lineham; Austin, Widdop; Hill, Walker, Akauola, Hughes, Longstaff, Davis. Subs: Butler, Dean, Doro, Robson.

Leigh: Brierley; Russell, Thornley, Sa'u, Mullen; Mellor, Reynolds; Ioane, Hood, McCarthy, Hellewell, Gee, Bell. Subs: Thompson, Wildie, Mason, Peteru