Leigh Genesis hearts were broken just five minutes from the end of an even FA Trophy tie as Blue Square North visitors Redditch United, two leagues above their UniBond League First Division North hosts, grabbed something of a smash-and-grab victory with Jamie Sheldon’s solitary strike.
Though the Worcestershire side largely dominated possession in front of the biggest crowd of the season at a rain-sodden Leigh Sports Village Stadium, it was Leigh that had the better of the goal opportunities by some margin, left in particular to rue a second half missed penalty from striker Chris Thompson.
In a drab first period, neither side managed to create any particularly threatening situations, with the first opportunity falling to Genesis youngster Dale Whitham, who headed wide a Jack Dorney cross on eighteen minutes.
Despite the two division gap between the sides, Leigh centre back pairing Jonathan Smith and Karl Munroe coped admirably with the threat of Gary Hay and Myron Sepmer, with Leigh going close with eight minutes of the first half remaining when Matt Jansen flashed a strike narrowly wide of the target.
In a week where Genesis have scored no less than seven second half goals in two previous games, Garry Flitcroft's side began the second period in predictable attacking fashion, posing a particular threat on the counter attack, with flying right winger Jack Dorney wreaking havoc on the break.
In his first attack of the second half, it looked as though Dorney had held on to the ball for too long, but he eventually managed to find the supporting Whitham, who's low shot was well saved by Redditch goalkeeper Daniel Lewis.
Dorney was again at the heart of another break shortly afterwards, cutting inside on to his favoured left foot on the edge of the area and curling the ball narrowly wide of the far post.
Leigh's golden opportunity arrived midway through the second half when the referee awarded a penalty for Thomas Birch's late sliding tackle on Kris King, only for Thompson to disappointingly drag his spot kick wide of the target.
The ultimate punishment for that miss arrived with just five minutes of the end when Andrew Ducros took advantage of a collision between two Leigh defenders to break through on the right hand side of the penalty area and cross for fellow substitute Jamie Sheldon to slot the ball home.
Genesis now have a rare seven days rest ahead of next Saturday's vital league fixture against joint-leaders Colwyn Bay at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium (28th November, 3pm).
Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Chris Page, Kris King, Karl Munroe, Jonathan Smith (Andy Heald), Jamie Baguley, Jack Dorney (Ilie Morariu), Dale Whitham, Matt Jansen, Chris Thompson, Tom Ince
Gutted. You'd never have thought there were two divisions between us. Disapointed with the penalty miss as i felt a set piece was our best chance of scoring in a match with hardly any chances. not to worry, two massive home league games now v colwyn and halifax. my mate enjoyed it too and said he'll come again!!
I bet Tommo is absolutely gutted at the penalty miss. Really thought we were good value for a replay, absolutely gutting result but let's look on the bright side and reflect on the fact that we've been tested against a side two leagues above us and certainly not looked out of place.
Wouldn't say it was pressure as such - he was under more pressure with the ones at Clitheroe - but sometimes you don't connect with it properly and that's what happens. If I was being picky, I could say that it should have been re-taken as Jansen was shoved in to the area whilst Thompson was still taking his run up, but that would have been a little pedantic.
even so, you gotta take the chances when it comes amount of times pens have been giving against us when they wernt pens and they have scored them, thats what we needed do today
I didn't fancy Warrington V Chorley yesterday so I paid my first visit to the very impressive LSV for the game against Redditch.
What a fantastic stadium, must be one of the best non-league venues in the whole country!! I was also impressed with the performance of the Genesis and thought you were on a par with Redditch. Pity about the penalty miss, but I was in line with the incident and it was definately outside the box. Then five minutes from time, the sucker-punch in the form of Redditch's goal.
At least you can now concentrate on the league and work towards securing a place in the play-offs. I don't think 'Weywell's Wonders' will be up there this season, we've had too many changes in recent weeks, as Steve tries to build an experienced side with limited finances.
I travelled to the LSV from Worsley yesterday and brought along my brother-in-law and three nephews. They were also amazed by the stadium and the standard of play, and I expect they will be back at LSV sooner rather than later - so there's four new supporters for you!!
In order for non-league clubs like Chorley and Leigh to be successful, we need to offer something different from the league clubs. We need to make our grounds and the atmosphere at games as family-friendly and child-friendly as possible with zero tolerance of bad language and behaviour. That way our clubs will increase attendances and revenue, and become a part of the local community which has got to be of benefit to all parties concerned.
I won't be able to come to your game next Saturday as we have got Curzon Ashton at home, and unfortunately my daughter's birthday party is the same day as FC Halifax which should be a real cracker!!
Good luck for the rest of the season, and I hope to be back at LSV very soon!
Now please join me in a moment's silence as we think of all those less fortunate than ourselves today, namely supporters of Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers........
and let us remind ourselves that it is only a game!!!!!!
Thought it was a good game of football, the support from both sides was absolutely brilliant. Very unlucky that we didnt score the penalty but we played very well considering that our opposition were 2 leagues above us.
Although they both had great games, Matty Jansen was the man of the match for me instead of Karl Munroe (As corrected by Tomo).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:11:22:21:07:31 by [Bondy][LGFC].
Glad you enjoyed it Charlie, though I do recall you were a Wanderers fan as well in a previous life?! Dare say we'll be making a trip to Victory Park for a Chorley game if it doesn't clash with a Leigh one.
yes matt, i'm sure we'll go to a chorley game simply cause of their half time refreshments (i'm easily pleased!!). our chat at half time at Chorley last week inspired me Matt, as i've booked a weekend away in Scotland for me and the lad to go to celtic v falkirk and then dundee v dunfirmline!!!!
Charlie Magpie, good to see another Salfordian on the site - come down to the lsv again and i'll get you a pint (or maybe a half at the prices the LSVcharge!!!) but how did you end up supporting Chorley?? are you from their orginally??
Walshy RMI fan
Charlie Magpie, good to see another Salfordian on the site - come down to the lsv again and i'll get you a pint (or maybe a half at the prices the LSVcharge!!!) but how did you end up supporting Chorley?? are you from their orginally??
My wife's family are the Salfordians, Swinton and Worsley to be exact. We live near Chorley, a mile and a bit from Victory Park. Last Saturday I brought the Worsley contingent along to the LSV. They were amazed at the facilities, and only 15 minutes down the A580! Hopefully we will bring a few more along next time - must be lots of potential support for Genesis along the A580 corridor. Might be worth a bit of publicity in Worsley, Walkden and surrounding areas.
Not really an area that we've explored (it's hard enough finding people in our town who are interested!), but a very interesting suggestion is that one.
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