11:13am Thursday 28th January 2010
Warrington Town 0 Leigh Genesis 0
ON a night dominated by Leigh Genesis' off-field situation, namely the almost immediate withdrawal of the club's main sponsor, it was easy to forget that Garry Flitcroft's side were actually taking place in a game as they failed to break down Warrington's dogged resistance at Cantilever Park.
Having met twice already this season in the FA Cup and UniBond League Challenge Cup with a victory apiece, the two neighbours finally met in a league fixture, with the Warrington side being something of a rarity in that it only contained one former Leigh player in the shape of goalkeeper Richard Mottram.
Mottram was thankful for the assistance of his defence within two minutes of the kick off when Jordan Stepien made a break on the right hand side of the penalty area, only for his cross to be cleared over the crossbar by Wire right back Phil Hadland with Tom Ince ready to pounce at the back post.
In a high-tempo opening, Leigh goalkeeper Stephen Drench was called in to action soon afterwards when he made a smart low save from Jimmy McCarthy, though it was to prove a largely quiet evening for the Genesis stopper as his side began to take control of the game.
Playing as a lone striker with Ince and Jack Dorney as supporting wide players, Stepien was proving a thorn in the Warrington side, appealing in vain for a corner after cutting inside Levi Kennedy's sliding challenge to curl a shot towards goal that was deflected wide for what most of the ground thought would be a corner, with only the referee disagreeing.
Stepien had another chance on twenty minutes, racing on to a precise Jamie Baguley through ball to touch the ball around the onrushing Richard Mottram, only for Mike Tomlinson to be in the right place to clear the ball as Stepien's sliding shot trickled towards the unguarded goal.
The undoubted golden chance of the evening arrived on thirty two minutes when Kris King's deep left wing cross was returned back across the area with interest by Stepien to the unmarked Jack Dorney, who somehow failed to even hit the target with a cushioned header from six yards directly in front of goal.
On a night where he was excellently shepherded by Karl Munroe, McCarthy tried to make something out of nothing on thirty seven minutes with an ambitious strike from outside the penalty area that dipped narrowly over Drench's crossbar, leaving the two sides level at the break despite a multitude of goal mouth action.
After such an entertaining first half, the second period had a tough act to follow but ultimately didn't deliver anywhere near as many goalscoring chances, with Warrington seemingly content to put extra men behind the ball and play for a point.
Despite that, Leigh came within a whisker of taking the lead on fifty two minutes when McCarthy was in the perfect position to head Karl Munroe's thumping header off the line with Mottram beaten from Stepien's corner, while Jack Dorney flashed a shot agonisingly wide of Mottram's right hand side with twenty five minutes remaining.
The draw means Leigh remain in sixth position in the league table but now seven points behind fifth-placed Curzon Ashton in the final promotion play-off place ahead of Saturday's short trip down the East Lancashire Road to face Salford City (30th January, 3pm), before Chorley's Victory Park is the venue for a league fixture with Radcliffe Borough next Wednesday (3rd February, 7.45pm).
Leigh Genesis: Stephen Drench, Lee Woodyatt, Kris King, Karl Munroe, Jonathan Smith, Jamie Baguley, Jack Dorney (Chris Thompson), Steve Flitcroft, Dale Whitham, Jordan Stepien (Matt Jansen), Tom Ince.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.leighjournal.co.uk/trade_directory/