Leigh's resuscitation is complete. The has-been high priest of 'knock 'em down' came doddering into the daylight to lay his healing hands on the Leythers' quest for Stupid League and the locals were rewarded with a suitably acquiescent sacrificial lamb.

Don't concern yourself with four years of progress under the unlikeable Paul Terzis. The nearly-man has been neatly airbrushed from Leigh's history to be replaced by Yesterday's Man - and his will be the power and the glory if Leigh prove everyone wrong and slip past Salford.

But after two minutes, Alex was tapping his pacemaker as a huge Dave Larder break from a Radney Bowker pass set up field position for Ian Watson who slotted Ryan Blake in at the corner.

Hornets' fans sang 'easy' and 'Murphy out!' - the irony was lost on the Leigh fans who told us to 'f*ck off'. Nice.

It didn't take long for Leigh to respond. Nine minutes; Leigh Sanderson spotted a hole and capitalised to score. Eleven minutes later Dale Holdstock backed up Duffy for Leigh's second. By half time it had proved to be a well worn path. 24 minutes; Rivett skinning Blake to score from half way: 27 minutes; Rowley intercepting, Weisner finishing the job: 34 minutes; Rowley jinking through soft tackles: 38 minutes; Alstead the same.

With only a solitary Nanyn penalty to show in resistance, Hornets dragged themselves in at half time 32-6 down - and Murphy ready to deliver quite possibly the world's easiest team talk.

Hornets did have a go at something resembling Rugby League early in the second half. On 43 minutes Blake shrugged off tacklers and handed the ball on for Larder to score. Three minutes later, some nippy handling sent Roper through a gap and Hornets had a veneer of respectability at 32-16. Then it all went tits-up.

Bristow followed by two from Rowley, followed by Duffy, followed by Nickle, followed by Weisner followed by... er... Rowley. A parade - a stream of soft and singularly unspectacular tries seeping through a defence so limp it barely had the strength to stand upright.

The only glint of consolation in all of it? Nine Leigh players on the scoresheet - and not one of them the spindly poseur Neil Turley. Which makes it all much easier to bear. Not!

In the end it was a humiliation of grand proportions - and hardly the way to warm up for the visit of Whitehaven in the playoffs. Thankfully, we'd have to go some way to play this badly again.