Leigh Genesis 2 Salford City 1

TWO injury time goals saw Leigh Genesis come up with a win against a resurgent Salford City despite trailing to the hosts for most of the game.

With regular goalkeeper Steven Drench missing through injury, teenager Dean Porter came in to the Leigh side for his first league appearance of the season, while Karl Munroe, Scott Sephton and Ilie Morariu all made the starting eleven for the first time in several weeks.

It was Sephton who had the first glimpse on goal of the game, albeit by accident, as his skewed cross landed on top of Andrew Robertson's crossbar on the ten minute mark.

After 21 minutes, Robertson was called upon to palm away a Jack Dorney free kick before Porter did well to tip away a fierce Martyn Andrews strike at the other end.

However, there was little Porter could do to prevent Salford going ahead after 29 minutes, when Mark Ross was caught out by a sudden bobble of the ball that allowed Salford to quickly feed Steve Foster through on goal.

Foster made no mistake in slotting the ball past Porter as the young goalkeeper came out to meet the striker on the edge of the area.

With only a minute until half time, Salford inexplicably failed to extend their lead when Rhodri Giggs headed the ball across goal for on-loan youngster Lewis Nightingale to somehow miss the target at the back post.

After the two sides delivered a thrilling 3-3 draw amidst torrential rain at Moor Lane last month, the second half somewhat failed to live up to it's billing, with only a smart low save from Porter and a Lee Woodyatt attempt over the bar to show for the efforts of the two sides.

At least, that was the case until the game exploded in to life with just three minutes left.

Midfield veteran Andy Heald set off on a driving run from Leigh's left hand side that saw him dribble past two defenders on his way in to the penalty area before meeting the sliding challenge of Gareth Thomas.

Although the Salford man appeared to get at least a portion of the ball, the referee ruled that he also got enough of Heald to warrant awarding a controversial penalty.

What followed was a series of melees around the penalty area as the two sides scuffled over the controversial decision.

After three minutes of chaos and plenty of whistle-blowing from referee Mr. Johnson, Salford duo Steve Foster and Andrew Robertson and Leigh's Ilie Morariu were all shown yellow cards for their parts in the arguments before Jack Dorney was finally able to line up his spot kick.

Dorney seemed unaffected by the delay and confidently sent Robertson the wrong way for his ninth goal of the season.

Not content with stealing a point in injury time, Leigh's tails were up and they quickly grabbed a winning goal as Tom Ince got himself in to his favoured position on the left hand side.

Leaving Billy McCartney stood still with a burst of acceleration, he delivered a cross for substitute Leroy Chinthengah to head home at the back post and seal all three points for Genesis.

The game was followed by Salford boss Mark Molyneux launching a lengthy and particularly abusive tirade at the match officials that could land him in hot water with the authorities, while Leigh were left to celebrate collecting three points that had looked unlikely even with only a few minutes remaining.

Although only a Curzon Ashton catastrophe in their final two games will bring any hope of Genesis making the promotion play-offs, supporters have a final chance of the season to cheer on Genesis at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium on Saturday when Wakefield are the visitors for a 3pm kick off, with Leigh's end-of-season presentation immediately following the game.

Leigh Genesis; Dean Porter, Lee Woodyatt, Kris King, Mark Ross, Karl Munroe, Andy Heald, Scott Sephton (Leroy Chinthengah), Steve Flitcroft, Ilie Morariu, Tom Ince, Jack Dorney