By Matt Lawton
February 22 2011

A goal in each half saw Leigh Genesis get their just reward for a controlling performance away to mid-table Mossley and claim all three points from their Evo-Stik League First Division North encounter.

With striker Stuart Rudd unavailable due to a calf injury, Marvin McDonald was deployed as a lone striker for Leigh with Craig Carney coming in to the side, while the absence of Andy Heald saw Simon Pendlebury in the Leigh starting line up for the first time since rejoining the club.

Leigh took the lead as early as the fifth minute when Pete Collinge did well to save a Connor Millington shot from Sam Fairhurst's cross, only for the rebound to fall straight at the feet of Marvin McDonald, with the Leigh front man making no mistake in sweeping home his second goal in as many games.

Genesis went close to extending their lead on sixteen minutes when Dave Dempsey broke his way past one attempted tackle and then seeing his shot held at the near post by Collinge before Craig Carney dragged his shot wide of the target two minutes later after a bright run forward.

The game continued to be dominated by Genesis and they went close again on twenty five minutes when McDonald toe-poked a shot wide of the target after being played in by Millington, with the hosts finally having their first serious attempt on goal two minutes later when Phil Priestley was called upon to make a terrific double save from close range.

Having dominated the vast majority of the opening period, the final action of the first half fittingly saw Leigh on the attack when a drilled Fairhurst strike was blocked by Collinge's foot as Leigh retained their 1-0 lead at the break.

Despite playing uphill in the second half, Leigh began in much the same way that they finished the first half as they created the first chance of the second half when Fairhurst played Carney through on goal four minutes after the restart only to be denied by an excellent save from Collinge who again did well to use his feet to deflect the ball away.

Mossley star Kristian Dennis has often been one of the division's top marksmen but he struggled to get in to the game in the face of a superbly hard-working Leigh midfield and had to wait until the sixty sixth minute mark to get his first sight of goal when his shot from just outside of the penalty area brushed Priestley's crossbar.

As the game entered it's final third Leigh made a pair of changes with Sam Fairhurst and Steve Smith both withdrawn after a tireless evening's work to be placed by Jack Smith and Scott Sephton respectively as Genesis boss Alan Kershaw looked to introduce fresh legs to see his side over the finish line.

That line was well in sight with eleven minutes when Leigh doubled their lead to effectively seal the points when a clever ball forward from Alex Grisedale saw Connor Millington beat the home offside trap and released clean through towards goal, poking the ball beneath the advancing Collinge for his first strike in Leigh colours.

Leigh suffered a couple of nervous moments late on when Priestley did superbly well to parry away a deflecting Dennis free kick with his foot while Simon Pendlebury was possibly a touch lucky to avoid giving away a penalty when he appeared to nudge over a Mossley player in the penalty area when challenging for a header, but Leigh looked to have learned their lesson from conceding two injury time goals in Saturday's 3-2 loss at Radcliffe Borough and efficiently saw out the game to claim a vital three points that have lifted them from the foot of the Evo-Stik League First Division North table.

This Saturday (26th January) sees Leigh travel to third-placed Skelmersdale United for a 3pm kick off in a fixture that was originally scheduled to be a home fixture but has been switched to allow time for ongoing pitch repair at Crilly Park to be completed in time for a home fixture against Lancaster City the following Tuesday (1st March, 7.45pm).

Leigh Genesis; Phil Priestley, Rob Flint, Steve Smith (Scott Sephton 70), Steve Ferrigan, Simon Pendlebury, Alex Grisedale, Craig Carney (Dale McDonald 89), Sam Fairhurst (Jack Smith 67), Marvin McDonald, Dave Dempsey, Connor Millington. Subs (not used); John Hedges, Steve Brockley