By Matt Lawton
February 15 2011

Leigh Genesis' three match unbeaten run came crashing to a halt with a dismal defeat away to local rivals Prescot Cables amidst the rain and mud of Valerie Park.

Having defeated Trafford and taken impressive draws from leaders Chester and tricky opponents Woodley Sports in their past three outings, Alan Kershaw’s Leigh side made the short journey down the East Lancashire Road in search of a victory that would lift Genesis from the foot of the Evo-Stik League First Division North table ahead of Ossett Albion after the Yorkshire side suffered a 7-0 defeat to Curzon Ashton 24 hours previously.

With Nathan McDonald serving a one match suspension, captain for the night Stuart Rudd was deployed as a lone striker on his second appearance for the club, and the former FC United of Manchester front man was left largely isolated throughout the evening, lacking support from midfield whenever Leigh pushed forward.

On a heavy pitch that provided a test for both sides, Leigh simply failed to match their hosts in coping with the conditions and were thankful in the opening minutes that goalkeeper Phil Priestley managed to keep out a shot from point blank range that his defenders eventually managed to scramble away from the rebound.

Leigh had a golden opportunity to take the lead on eighteen minutes when they broke clear with three attackers taking on a single Prescot defender, only for Craig Carney to fire straight at Cables goalkeeper Michael Langley when team mate Marvin McDonald was perfectly placed to receive a square ball and more likely to get a better view of goal.

Priestley produced another stunning save three minutes later to tip the ball away at the back post from close range but there was little he could do on twenty six minutes when the hosts took the lead in particularly fortuitous circumstances when Jason Massie received the ball from a short corner kick and aimed a cross in to the box, only for it to skew off his foot and fly in to the top corner of Priestley's net.

It took Prescot just two minutes of the second half to extend their lead when Massie was left unmarked at the back post to tap home a simple finish before the home lead was extended four minutes later when Priestley failed to hold on to a cross in to his area with the ball falling kindly for Lee Madin to loop a header in to the net.

Debutants Danny Bell and Steve Smith were introduced from the Leigh bench but, like their new team mates, struggled to get any sort of foothold in the game with possession squandered far too readily in the Leigh midfield.

The rout was completed with eight minutes remaining when the Genesis defence were completely caught out by a long ball that was launched forward to leave Madin free to pick his spot and curl his second goal of the evening past Priestley.

Leigh's evening was somewhat summed up in stoppage time when Stuart Rudd forced a smart save from Langley with substitute Jack Smith managing to only drag his shot wide of the target with the goal begging from the rebound.

Kershaw's side have only four days to pick themselves up before two away trips over the next week when they visit Radcliffe Borough on Saturday (19th February, 3.00pm kick off) and then travel to Mossley the following Tuesday (22nd February, 7.45pm).

Leigh Genesis; Phil Priestley, Rob Flint, Scott Sephton, Steve Ferrigan, Alex Grisedale, Connor Millington (Jack Smith 62), Craig Carney, Sam Fairhurst, Stuart Rudd, Marvin McDonald (Steve Smith 58), James Kelly (Danny Bell 56). Subs (not used); Adam Parkhouse, Simon Pendlebury