THE Vikings' problem over the number-seven shirt may finally be solved after youngster Andy Kain stepped up to the plate in Widnes's impressive win.

Kain, 21, a pre-season buy from promotion rivals Castleford Tigers, made a superb start to his Widnes career with a display at half-back.

It was his 57th-minute try which finally gave his team some breathing space as Widnes held off Leigh to continue their unbeaten 2007 run.

Stephen Myler, Willie Peters, Gary Hulse, James Coyle and Ian Watson have all failed to meet the high demands of the Vikings faithful in the scrum-half 's jersey.

But on this showing it seems Widnes fans are fully behind former NL1 Young Player-of-the-Year Kain, who inspired Vikings to victory.

Kain made his mark on the game from the first minute - sending a fizzing pass for Gavin Dodd to almost reach over to score - and finished it with a deserved try after directing his troops round the park.

Last year's Northern Rail Cup holders showed glimpses of what got them to Blackpool last season with ex-Viking Martin Ainscough leading the way at half-back.

Ainscough, who has recovered from a broken leg, opened the scoring with a classy individual effort on three minutes - stabbing through a short kick and collecting it himself close to the line to touch down.

Heremaia's goal put Centurions six points up after only 180 seconds.

John Clough extended the lead six minutes later, going over from two metres to leave Vikings stunned.

Leigh should have gone further ahead on 25 minutes. Anthony Stew-art's superb defence-splitting break led to another former Widnes player, Miles Greenwood, reaching over.

The full-back appeared to have grounded the ball on the line but referee Steve Clark ruled the 'try' out for a knock-on.

Widnes soon got back into the swing of things with Moran making a telling break.

The busy stand-off passed Greenwood before the Leigh player took him out. From the resulting play-the-ball, Mark Smith was placed on report for catching Heremaia late after the half-back took the ball.

Heremaia left the field on a stretcher but returned as Leigh found the game slipping out their grasp.

Things soon cooled down and Vikings picked up the pace.

Then Dodd touched down for his second after Adam Rudd had fumbled Moran's towering kick.

Only two points separated the teams at the break but Leigh made a blistering start to the second half.

Former Leeds paceman Leroy Rivett drew first blood with a well-taken 44th-minute effort.

But resilient Vikings came back almost immediately and, in a 10-minute burst, put the game beyond doubt with Toa Kohe-Love, Andy Kain and Smith all crashing over.

Leigh's Rudd grabbed a try on 69 minutes but on-loan Warrington prop Andy Bracek sealed it with Mick Nanyn landing his fifth goal.

Dugout view

WIDNES boss Steve McCormack heaped praise on fans for getting behind his team when they were under the cosh.

McCormack said his side were trailing 16-10 and showed signs of conceding another score when the 'Vikings' voice' erupted to lift the players.

He said: 'I would like to thank the fans once again for turning out and showing the support that we need every week.

'They really got behind the lads when we were 12-0 down and under the cosh and they played their part today in the victory.' McCormack added: 'I'm pleased that we got the win but I am not happy in regards to the amount of points we have conceded.

'We lost a little bit of composure in the first half and, at half-time, I said to the lads we needed to get that back and the tries would come.

'The tries did come and Andy Kain was at the forefront of that. 'There are no easy games in this competition and this division and we still need to improve.' Leigh head coach Darren Shaw said the Vikings capitalised on a high penalty count.

He said: 'We showed that we can go well and I'm pleased with certain aspects of the game. But Widnes got the momentum on the back of our silly penalty mistakes and punished us. 'We had nine missing but we showed up well and that's encouraging. There is a long way to go in this season and come September and October we will be a lot better team.' Shaw also paid tribute to Martin Ainscough for a gusty performance against his old club, who released him at the end of last season.' 'Martin is a talented footballer', the Centurions' boss said.

'I did not know anything about him until I turned up at training in November and I could see then what a good player he is.'