EX-Super League ref Colin Morris could be standing on a Red Carpet himself.

His handling of Sunday's Battle of Hilton Park will be a major cause for concern for RL bosses.

In a sensational final 15 minutes he sent off three Widnes players in a procession of red cards, mixed up a twice-taken penalty and needed an escort back to the dressing rooms.

Morris, down-graded from Super League, came close to losing control completely as tempers flared on the pitch and on the terraces.

Stewards had to move in to keep rival fans apart as Leigh hit back to snatch a dramatic 32-26 victory in their final home game of the season.

But the game could now be the subject of an inquiry by RL chiefs in Leeds.

Widnes, with only 10 men at the end, were furious as they slipped to a ninth straight defeat. But, for once, Leigh were on the right end of some controversial rulings.

Neither club is allowed to speak publicly about the ref's performance. But both will make reports to League Referees' Coaching Director Geoff Berry.

Coach Norman Turley was thrilled with a rare win, but added: "We wanted to send our fans home happy, but not like this."

The ill-feeling that ran throughout the game finally exploded in a chaotic last 16 minutes.

Shane Wilson was first to go; sin-binned for flattening Safraz Patel, then red-carded for dissent.

Then Ian Gildart walked as his swinging forearm poleaxed Stuart Donlan.

Deep into stoppage time Damian Munro followed his team-mates up the tunnel as he contested a twice-taken penalty.

Wilson and Gildart were already sharing the soap when Stuart Dickinson burst through for a six-pointer to level it at 26-26.

With the game running to almost 10 minutes over Munro was penalised for offside, got himself sent off and allowed Paul Wingfield to kick Leigh to victory.

Even then he had to do it twice!

Mr Morris forgot to order the clock to be re-started and Wingfield had to kick the angled penalty twice.

In the seventh minute of stoppage time John Costello sent Wingfield in with what was left of the Widnes defence nowhere in sight.

There was little earlier to suggest such a sensational finish. Leigh were down 12-10 at the break, Andy Fairclough scoring a try to add to Wingfield's goals.

When Tau Liku blasted over inside 30 seconds of the restart and Dickinson collected the first of his two tries, Leigh looked to have things under control. But Widnes hit back strongly to lead 26-20.

And that, we thought, was that!

LEIGH: Donlan; Wingfield, Hill, Fairclough, Dickinson; Patel, Murray; Bent, Jenkins, Pucill, Liku, Costello, Garces. Subs: Purtill, Grundy, Driscoll, Gunning.

Our picture shows David Hill and Stuart Dickinson moving in to stop Peter Smith.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.