THE 42nd minute dismissal of young Mike Morrison and sinbinning of fellow prop Gareth Price proved the turning point as the Centurions tossed away a handy half time leadfor a second successive match.

Haven opened the score after just four minutes when Leigh were found guilty of playing laterally and rangy centre Saia Makisi intercepted Dennis Moran's wide pass to romp forty metres unopposed.Carl Rudd booted the first of four goals before the next few minutes saw Leigh mount pressure only for the Haven rearguard to stand firm, while at the other end, Spencer Miller went closest to touching down a kick to the in-goal.

The breakthrough finally came after 18 minutes when a powerful drive from Lee Doran was halted ten metres out. From dummy half, in-form hooker Dave McConnell spied his chance and twisted out of the attempted tackle of Leroy Joe to cross.

Whitehaven responded with a good spell of possession but Scott McAvoy was pulled back from a scoring position due to a forward pass. Lee Marsh and Doran were then caught offside and Rudd stroked home the easy penalty.

Play swung up and down the midfield with Aaron Smith showing a clean pair of heels to his former team-mates before Gary Broadbent cut him down while Moran gave Haven a couple of anxious moments with his elusive footwork.

Eventually Leigh took advantage of their better forward play when Doran smuggled the ball away in a tackle, McConnell provided the running and Morrison popped up in support for his second try of the season. Ian Watson tagged on his second goal and it was 12-8 to Leigh.

With halftime approaching, Mark Bainbridge attempted to kick through and the ball appeared to hit Doran's hand and travel forward. In an instant Toa Kohe-Love swept up possession and laid the pass on to Dave Alstead who sped down the line with Craig Calvert in pursuit before grounding his seventh try of the season. Bizarrely, after the half-time siren sounded Watson hooked his goal attempt to the left and the Centurions led 16-8.

The Centurions made a solid start to the new half, restricting Whitehaven to their forty metre line but the flashpoint happened with Leigh in possession. As the play-the-ball came in from Price, he and McDonald traded blows and a melee erupted.

The touch judges and referee Jamie Leahy were quickly on the scene with the two protagonists yellow carded before Morrison was shown the red card and the whole incident placed on report. This meant that for the second week in succession, the Centurions had to finish the game with twelve men - and this ultimately cost them.

Winning with thirteen men at the Recreation Ground is a hard task but with eleven on the field, gaps were plentiful and Whitehaven took advantage.

Former Centurions centre Rob Jackson, who played 23 times for the club in Super League, kickstarted the Whitehaven comeback following a 20 metre angled run after 43 minutes and the hosts hit the front just five minutes later when a lovely face ball from Bainbridge caught Dave Alstead in no-man's land and Calvert finished for Rudd to convert.

From the restart Gary Broadbent made an uncharacteristic mistake and Smith flung himself at the line only to lose control a metre short.

Within two minutes a mesmerising sequence of passes saw at least half a dozen Whitehaven players handle and cover thirty metres before Jackson put Ade Adebisi over in the corner. This time the Rudd conversion drifted wide and Price returned from the sinbin with his side now trailing by six points.

Further misery fell the Centurions way on the hour when veteran Leroy Joe rolled back the years with a piercing run and Rudd sauntered over for a self-goaled try.

To their credit Leigh never gave in, but all to often possession was spilled by impatient play although their defence stood firm to contrast that three-try ten purple patch for Haven.

Substitute Ian Mort was twice called into try saving action on Howard Hill and Graeme Mattinson, while Rudd missed a long range drop goal attempt and a penalty that would have taken the game out of bonus point territory for Leigh.