Leigh Genesis Official Supporters
Prescot Cables 0 Leigh Genesis 4
By Matt Lawton
November 14 2009
A tremendous second half performance from Leigh Genesis saw them hit four goals without reply in the final 15 minutes of a tricky fixture away to local rivals Prescot Cables, giving Garry Flitcroft's side a three point cushion in sixth position in the league table.
However, the heavy conditions hardly lent itself to a pure footballing encounter, and much of the first half was quite literally bogged down in midfield. With last season's 2-0 defeat in similar conditions at the same venue still fresh in the memory, there were fears amongst the travelling support of a similar result as, despite having the majority of the possession, Leigh failed to create any clear-cut chances in the first half, despite a large number of crosses in to the area and possession in the final third.
That said, Prescot hardly created too many chances of their own, with an ambitious but well-struck Phil Cooney strike forcing Stephen Drench to tip the ball over the crossbar early on. Phil Green wasted a golden chance when Prescot were somehow left with a three-on-one counter attack, but he went for glory and fired in to the side netting instead of passing across goal to two players who were in far better positions. On twenty three minutes, the Leigh defence were left looking like statues when they stopped in appeal for an offside flag that never arrived, allowing Dean Thurston to collect the ball unchallenged and thump a shot against the top of the crossbar.
Flitcroft must have delivered a mighty half-time team talk as his side came out for the second period looking completely different, dominating the final forty five minutes with a confident attacking display that meant Prescot didn't even close to an attempt on goal for the entire second half.
Leigh were on the attack within minutes of the second half beginning as Jordan Stepien's curling free kick missed the heads of everyone in the penalty area, but was still heading for the net until Prescot goalkeeper Andy Paxton palmed the ball over the crossbar. Paxton was called in to action from the resulting corner, showing particular alertness to tip Jamie Baguley's inswinging corner over the bar, virtually on his own line as the Leigh midfielder used a strong breeze to his advantage to curl the ball towards goal.
Baguley was involved again on forty nine minutes in a move straight from the training ground, as his free kick was headed back across goal by centre back Jonathan Smith, and it was met by Dale Whitham's flying header that was again tipped over by Paxton.
Leigh finally made the breakthrough on seventy five minutes, but it wasn't without it's controversy as an indirect free kick was awarded to Genesis on the edge of the six yard box after Paxton picked up an innocuous pass from his own player. This sparked several scuffles in the penalty area amongst the two sides, with Cables' Paul Lundon lucky to remain on the field after appearing to strike Genesis striker Jordan Stepien as the two sides wrangled over the free kick itself and the positioning of the wall. Eventually, the set piece was allowed to be taken and the ball was rolled back to Baguley, who drilled the ball in to the far corner of the net and jubilantly celebrated with the travelling support that had gathered behind that goal.
Victory looked to have been sealed six minutes later when an attempted Prescot clearance was charged down, allowing Tom Ince to break through on goal and expertly slot the ball in to the net with the help of Paxton's left hand post for his fifth goal of the season, albeit his first in the league.
Leigh were running rampant at this point and earned a third goal on eighty four minutes. Jack Dorney appeared to be heading down a blind alley on the right hand side, close to the by-line with his back to goal and two players to beat, but a wonderful piece of improvisation saw him flick the ball over the head of the first man and then brought down in the penalty area by Che Morgan as he collected the ball from his own flick, with Jordan Stepien clinically converting from the spot for his tenth goal in twenty games so far this season to maintain his impressive strike-rate.
With the visiting support screaming for a fourth goal, it duly arrived on eighty nine minutes when Dale Whitham arrowed a first time strike past Paxton from Tom Ince's pinpoint cross. After Genesis inflicted a 6-0 defeat on Prescot when they visited the LSV in September, the visiting Leythers proclaimed what would be a 10-0 aggregate victory as Leigh extended their unbeaten league run to four games.
Due to the unavailability of the LSV, Chorley's Victory Park provides the venue for Leigh's next home fixture when they take on Harrogate Railway Athletic on Wednesday evening (18th November, 7:45pm) before a huge FA Trophy Second Qualifying Round encounter against Blue Square North side Redditch United at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium next Saturday (21st November, 3pm), with tickets on sale now from the stadium ticket office.
Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Chris Page (Mark Ross), Kris King, Karl Munroe, Jonathan Smith, Jamie Baguley, Jack Dorney, Dale Whitham, Jordan Stepien, Chris Thompson (David Hill), Tom Ince
| PRESCOT CABLES 0 LEIGH GENESIS 4 | |
| Date | Saturday 14th November 2009 |
| Venue | Valerie Park, Prescot |
| Attendance | 247 |
| Half time | Prescot Cables 0 Leigh Genesis 0 |
| Competition | UniBond League First Division North |
| Scorers | |
| Leigh Genesis | Jamie Baguley (75) Tom Ince (81) Jordan Stepien (84 pen) Dale Whitham (89) |
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon15/11/2009 12:59
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
, just keep playing like we are and we will be alreet 