By Matt Lawton
March 24 2010

Play-off rivals Leigh Genesis and Curzon Ashton remain locked on fifty seven points apiece after the two sides cancelled each other out in an uncompromising encounter at Cantilever Park.

Although Curzon front pairing Michael Norton and AJ Leitch-Smith were a constant handful for Chris Page and Mark Ross in the Leigh defence, it was Garry Flitcroft's side that created the better of the chances in the first period, Matt Jansen dragging a half-volley wide of the target on twenty one minutes after some neat build-up play.

The best chance came in first half injury time when Page made a driving run forward from defence and played in Jordan Stepien, who was denied by an excellent stop by Michael Hale, with the Curzon goalkeeper doing well to flick the ball away for a corner just as Tom Ince appeared set to sweep the rebound in to the net.

Stepien had the first chance of the second half when he turned his marker on fifty minutes to give himself a clear sight of goal, only for Hale to deflect the ball away for a corner, but again the two sides largely cancelled each other out until the game started to open up in the final fifteen minutes.

Leigh substitute Richard Ratcliffe thought he had given his side the lead when heading a Chris Dykes corner, only for Curzon substitute Jimmy Ogoo, easily the smallest man on the field, to fly across goal and head the ball off the line.

It appeared to be advantage-Genesis on eighty three minutes when Curzon's Phil Edgehill was given his marching orders for a second yellow card after a needlessly late challenge on Kris King, with Leigh coming frustratingly close to taking the lead on eighty six minutes when Hale spilled a drilled strike from substitute Andy Heald, only for Jack Dorney to take too long when attempting to convert the rebound and the chance was gone.

As the clock ticked over to ninety minutes, marking a full six hours without conceding a goal for Steven Drench and his Leigh defence, Curzon came within a coat of paint of ruining that record when an ambitious overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area thumped against Drench's crossbar.

The Leigh goalkeeper might have been thankful for the intervention of the woodwork on that occasion, but the heroics from the resultant corner were all of his own doing, producing a Gordon Banks-esque save to hurl himself across goal and palm away a goalbound header, and somehow managing to better himself on the rebound by clawing the ball off the line when it seemed likely to head for the back of the net with Drench stranded on the ground.

Bearing in mind the final minutes of the game, Leigh might consider themselves pleased with a point to keep in touch with the play-off spots ahead of their trip over the Pennines to face Garforth Town on Saturday (27th March, 3pm) before the short trip to face struggling neighbours Salford City at Moor Lane next Tuesday (30th March, 7.45pm).

Leigh Genesis; Steven Drench, Lee Woodyatt, Kris King, Mark Ross, Chris Page, Dale Whitham, Jack Dorney, Steve Flitcroft (Andy Heald), Jordan Stepien (Richard Ratcliffe), Matt Jansen (Chris Dykes), Tom Ince