By Matt Lawton
February 20 2010

An epic late comeback saw never-say-die Leigh Genesis come from two goals down with eight minutes remaining to claim a point from an enthralling encounter with West Yorkshire hosts Wakefield.

On a bright winter's afternoon over the Pennines, the hosts had the first chance of the game on four minutes when Chris Howarth saw a shot tipped around the far post by Steven Drench after the Wakefield skipper had made a break down the right hand side.

In a first half that was somewhat bereft of goalmouth action but nonetheless an entertaining battle, Leigh's first glimpse of goal arrived on twenty four minutes when neat play between Jack Dorney and Richard Ratcliffe finished with the latter flashing a shot narrowly over the crossbar, before Drench was in the right place to block a closeback Mark Wilson attempt on thirty three minutes.

Genesis came within a whisker of taking the lead just three minutes in to the second half when Wakefield goalkeeper Jan Zolna had to be at his best to tip a Steve Flitcroft strike around the post, with Leigh centre back Karl Munroe firing wildly over the bar from close range when well-placed from the resultant corner.

Two minutes later and Leigh had the first of several penalty claims turned down when a Dale Whitham cross appeared to be handled away for a corner by centre back Marc Roberts after Ratcliffe had played in the young international midfielder, but the appeals fell on deaf ears.

Zolna impressed again on fifty four minutes when a Matt Jansen header from a curling Flitcroft cross seemed to be heading for the back of the net, only for Zolna to superbly claw the ball off the line.

The referee found himself at the centre of attention again on fifty four minutes, this time to the benefit of Genesis as Tom Denton saw a goal chalked off for a shove on Lee Woodyatt.

Wakefield took the lead on sixty seven minutes from the penalty spot when Chris Howarth sent Drench the wrong way after Karl Munroe was ruled to have pushed Tom Denton when challenging for a Mark Wilson corner.

That lead was doubled, seemingly sealing the three points for the Yorkshiremen, on seventy two minutes when another Wilson corner led to the goal, this time seeing Denton volley the ball past Drench.

To their credit, Leigh never gave up hope and were left livid at the referee when a Chris Dykes cross appeared to be handled by Wilson in the penalty area to such an extent that the midfielder was left nursing an injured hand, but again the Leigh appeals were to no avail.

Leigh were given huge hope on eighty two minutes when they halved the deficit when Matt Jansen diverted a Lee Woodyatt cross past Zolna via a deflection from Wakefield defender Craig Laight for his fourth goal in two games.

This prompted a barrage of attacks and Leigh's pressure was rewarded as the game headed in to injury time as Andy Heald did well to find enough space in a crowded penalty area to turn towards goal and emphatically thump the ball past Zolna for a joyous equaliser.

Jack Dorney had a huge chance to complete an incredible finish when he almost had a glimpse of goal when cutting inside the penalty area with virtually the last kick of the game, only to keep hold of the ball for a split second too long and see the ball cleared.

Although Leigh might have expected to collect all three points from the game, Wakefield were good value from the point but the nature of Leigh's comeback almost epitmoises the fighting spirit amongst the players and club in general in it's current circumstances and will provide a huge boost ahead of a game against Skelmersdale United at Chorley's Victory Park on Wednesday (24th February, 7.45pm kick off) before playing against Chorley in an away fixture at the same venue next Saturday (27th February, 3pm).

Leigh Genesis; Steven Drench, Lee Woodyatt, Chris Page, Mark Ross, Karl Munroe, Andy Heald, Dale Whitham (Chris Dykes), Steve Flitcroft, Richard Ratcliffe (Ilie Morariu), Matt Jansen, Jack Dorney