Leigh Genesis UniBond First Division season ends at Hednesford Town (From Leigh Journal)

Leigh Genesis UniBond First Division season ends at Hednesford Town

12:18am Saturday 25th April 2009

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Leigh Genesis 2 Bradford Park Avenue 1

LEIGH Genesis sign off a rollercoaster season in the Midlands on Saturday when they visit Hednesford Town.

They ended a turbulent home campaign with an impressive victory over Bradford Park Avenue on Tuesday night.

A goal in each half put a huge dent in the play-off ambitions of the Yorkshire outfit and did a huge favour for neighbours FC United of Manchester in the process.

With Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat to Matlock Town condemning Genesis to UniBond League Division One North football next season, Garry Flitcroft’s side had little more than pride to play for at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium.

However, it was Leigh that started brightest and took the lead on 24 minutes when Jack Dorney cut inside from the right and saw his left-footed cross deflect into the path of midfielder Karl Brown, who made no mistake in poking the ball past former Leigh goalkeeper Jon Wornsop.

As the conclusion of the first half was within sight, the visitors began to see more of the game, with Genesis particularly vulnerable at corner kicks.

King headed a Mark Haran header off the line before Haran saw a header thump against the crossbar.

Fears of a Bradford equaliser were dispelled within seconds of the restart when Steve Flitcroft rattled in a shot from the edge of the area to give Leigh some breathing space.

That breathing space became awfully tight late on when Haran swept in a rebound from close range after returning keeper Stephen Drench had pulled off a world class save to stop Mark Bett’s free kick from going in to the top corner but Leigh managed to hold on and celebrate victory.

The crowd of 301 took Genesis over the 5,000 mark for the season in their final home fixture of the campaign, ensuring an average attendance of 218, beating last season’s Blue Square North figure despite playing in a lower division and having to host home fixtures at seven different venues during the course of the season.

Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Paul Howarth, Kris King, Steve Flitcroft, Jonathan Smith, Chris Page, Jack Dorney (Dale Whitham), Andy Heald, Karl Brown (Scott Sephton), Jordan Stepien, Tom Ince.

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