LEIGH Centurions bowed out of the Challenge Cup at the quarter final stage for the second year running following a brave display at Super League Warrington Wolves.

The cup holders were given an almighty scare after going into the break 14-12 down, but they turned the tide with three quick tries at the start of the second half, eventually seeing off Leigh 34-24 but it was never comfortable.

With two previous Super League scalps behind them, Centurions made a slow start and trailed 6-0 after seven minutes when former Leigh player Chris Hill came up with nice interplay for fellow prop Ashton Sims to score by the posts.

Gareth O'Brien converted but the hosts' advantage lasted just five minutes when Greg Worthington grabbed a try from Ryan Brierley's astute grubber kick. Martyn Ridyard goaled and his field kicking became a feature as the Centurions built their way into the game.

Unfortunately, the next try went against Leigh when Bob Beswick had the ball stolen in a one-on-one tackle by Ben Harrison and O'Brien quickly linked with Ben Currie for the former Golborne junior to finish at the corner.

The conversion nudged the Wolves 12-6 ahead but Leigh responded brilliantly when O'Brien chased his own kick on the last tackle and then lost possession for Brierley to pin his ears back and go 60 metres for an unconverted score that saw him move to seventh in the all-time Leigh try-scoring list.

Fuifui Moimoi then saw a try overruled for a double movement and a Stefan Ratchford break had Leigh rattled, resulting in Liam Kay passing forward for Tommy Goulden on Leigh's next possession.

The Centurions weathered the storm and counter-attacked superbly with the ball whizzing through several pairs of hands across field to get left-wing Kay into some space on the last tackle and his brilliantly judged kick was taken by Gregg McNally for the fullback to finish emphatically.

Again, Ridyard's conversion drifted wide but Leigh hit half-time with the advantage, although the mood was muted after Wolves' second rower James Laithwaite – a former Leigh loanee – suffered a broken leg.

Warrington found their rhythm after the restart as Brad Dwyer broke the line to find Ratchford and teased the defence before a suspect pass right brought a try for Kevin Penny, which O'Brien converted brilliantly from the touchline.

A second try for Penny followed four minutes later, awarded on the advice of the video referees after an athletic and crowd-pleasing dive over at the corner. Although the kick faded, Warrington's blistering start put them into a 22-14 lead.

Leigh's character and skill shone brightly a couple of minutes later when McNally broke through the middle and linked with Brierley.

A clean take would surely have seen the Centurion half-back grab another try but O'Brien tackled him without the ball and earned a yellow card.

Goulden went within an inch of touching down after 49 minutes while Currie saw a try ruled out by the video referees.

The next all-important score fell the way of the Wolves when George King chased through a Myler grubber kick and Ben Westwood slotted the conversion over to open a 14-point advantage while Leigh were trying to reshuffle after losing Andrew Dixon to injury.

Centurions went close through Kay after 64 minutes and 60 seconds later were back in the contest when a lovely kick from Ridyard saw Brierley chase through for his second.

Ridyard's conversion brought the deficit to eight points before Warrington claimed their sixth try, Currie finishing approach-work by Myler, O'Brien and Ratchford for O'Brien to strike his fourth goal.

The Centurions still weren't done, and they sent their army of fans home with a try eight minutes from the end when Armstrong finished a McNally pass. Leigh had a final chance a couple of minutes later when they made inroads down the right only for the ball to go to ground and while the Centurions considered what might have been, Warrington breathed a huge sigh of relief to go into the semi-finals, where they will face Hull KR.

Centurions: McNally, Pownall, Worthington, Armstrong, Kay; Ridyard, Brierley; Wilkes, Beswick, Hock, Dixon, Goulden, Emmitt.

Subs: Higson, Hopkins, Moimoi, Spencer.

Referee: Richard Silverwood.

Attendance: 10,119.