Defiant Leigh Genesis finally lose unbeaten home record (From Leigh Journal)

Defiant Leigh Genesis finally lose unbeaten home record

9:47pm Sunday 7th February 2010

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Leigh Genesis 0 Chorley 2

LEIGH Genesis' brave band of unpaid players finally lost their proud unbeaten home record as Lancashire rivals Chorley scored a goal in each half to run out victors at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium.

With the sun coming out to mark Leigh's first game in the Leigh Sports Village Stadium since mid-December, both sides had chances in the opening five minutes as first Alex Porter drove the ball over the bar for Chorley before Jack Dorney dragged his shot wide of Zac Hibbert's left hand post after a well-judged Jordan Stepien crossfield ball had created the opening.

Neither side managed to gain a particular foothold in the game, though it was the visitors that generally dominated possession, and they took the lead on 20 minutes when Reece Kelly's left wing corner was missed by Genesis goalkeeper Stephen Drench, allowing Stuart Howson to head home at the back post.

The same combination saw Leigh almost fall two goals behind three minutes later when ex-Leigh man Kelly delivered another left wing corner for the unmarked Howson, only for the centre back to head wide on that occasion.

After holding a goal lead at the break, Chorley thought they had doubled it on 49 minutes when Porter did well to beat Drench to the ball and seemingly roll the ball over the line, only for retreating centre back Karl Munroe to superbly block the ball on to the post and clear the ball away to safety.

That escape seemed to spur Genesis into a mini-revival, going close just a minute later when Kris King released Tom Ince down the left flank, with Ince cutting inside to lay the ball off for Jordan Stepien, only for Leigh's top scorer to fire over the bar from 16 yards out.

Huge forward Chris Amadi, almost a figure of fun during his short spell with Leigh last season, was proving to be a massive handful all afternoon and it was almost inevitable that he would prove his doubters wrong, doubling Chorley's lead on 62 minutes with a thunderous strike that was too hot for Drench to keep out at his near post.

Garry Flitcroft's half-time introduction of forward Chris Baguley, replacing brother Jamie, had appeared to have little effect on Leigh's struggling attempts to create any attacking momentum, with Chorley somehow failing to add to their lead as the game entered stoppage time when Matthew Tindall broke the Leigh offside trap and hared through on goal, only to not even manage to hit the target when one-on-one with Drench.

Leigh finally created a clear opening deep in to stoppage time when Baguley broke down the left flank and played the ball in to the area and eventually finding Lee Woodyatt, but Leigh's day was summed up with a wayward finish from the Genesis right back that went wildly over the crossbar.

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