FOR patched-up and battle-weary Leigh it was a half too far.

In just 16 second-half minutes their dreams of Old Trafford were shattered as impressive Whitehaven raced into a match-winning lead.

Leigh had given it everything in the first half and trailed only 14-13 at the break.

But coach Keith Latham's warning that his tired side 'hadn't much left in the tank' was rammed home as the Cumbrians cut loose with a 24-point burst on their way to a handsome 48-25 victory in the Premiership quarter-final.

Leigh simply couldn't match them physically, especially up front where Colin Armstrong, David Fatialofa and Siose Muliumu punched holes in an increasingly weary defence.

The inevitable happened: Lee Kiddie, Les Quirk, Wesley Wilson and Kevin Hetherington all crossed for tries in the opening 16 minutes of the second half.

Yet until half-time Leigh had more than held their own.

They led 7-2 early on when David Ingram skipped his way through for his 50th career try in just 68 games. Chris Wilkinson added the touchline goal to add to his first minute drop.

With 30 minutes gone the first signs of Leigh cracking started to appear as Haven went clear.

Leigh picked themselves up and closed the gap to a single point when Andy Fairclough got in at the corner and Wilkinson added another touchline goal.

But the first 20 minutes of the second half were the key. Whitehaven lifted their game while Leigh had nothing left to give.

But Leigh showed tremendous spirit by coming back at the death with two of the best tries of the game.

Sub Stuart Donlan set up Paul Daniel with an elegant touchline break and then Ingram collected his 10th try in the competition with a dazzling solo effort that finished under the posts and gave John Gunning his second successful kick.

LEIGH: O'Loughlin; Ingram, Hill, Fairclough, Sarsfield; Patel, Wilkinson; Conway, Jenkins, Pucill, Daniel, Liku, Gunning. Subs: Smith, Hudspith, Gibson, Donlan. Attendance: 2,079.

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