LEIGH’s veteran skipper Micky Higham has won Challenge Cups and Super League titles in a glittering career, but he puts yesterday’s promotion as right up there with those achievements.

The 35-year-old hooker, who re-joined his hometown club from Warrington last year, steered Centurions to the top flight for the first time since they were relegated in 2005.

The club claimed their third top flight scalp of the Qualifiers – adding Huddersfield to Salford and Hull KR – meaning they come up without needing to challenge through the Million Pound Game.

Higham said: "I'm still a bit emotional.

"It's right up there with all I've achieved in my career. I watched Leigh as a kid and to live the dream and captain my home-town team into Super League is a special moment. I am absolutely ecstatic."

Head coach Neil Jukes, who took the helm from Paul Rowley at the start of the campaign was equally delighted.

He said: "It's just brilliant. It's crazy, isn't it?

"Who would have said after five games we'd be up without having to go into the Million Pound Game. Who knows, we could even go on and win it, which would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

"My last words before we went out, I told them it had to be their best game in a Leigh shirt and from one to 17 they did.

"In the second half, the momentum was always going to change, but what we got was the gutsiest performance we've ever had. To put 40 points on Huddersfield in the first half was electric. We did enough in that first half to win the game."