Jordan Stepien at the double again as Leigh Genesis defeat Woodley Sports (From Leigh Journal)

Jordan Stepien at the double again as Leigh Genesis defeat Woodley Sports

10:06pm Sunday 14th March 2010 in

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Leigh Genesis 2 Woodley Sports 0

LEIGH Genesis kept up their chase of fifth-placed Curzon Ashton but they needed two late goals from goal machine Jordan Stepien to see off a Woodley Sports outfit that knocked Garry Flitcroft's Genesis side out of the UniBond Presidents Cup earlier in the season.

After keeping a clean sheet in a second successive win with a 2-0 victory at fellow play-off challengers Trafford last week and centre back Karl Munroe still missing through suspension, Genesis boss Flitcroft persisted with an identical starting line up to that that appeared at Shawe View last weekend.

However, in a drab first half, the only genuine chance fell to the visitors as Mark Haslam hooked a Danny Queeley cross narrowly wide of the target on 29 minutes.

The game sprung into life just four minutes into the second period when the referee ruled that Genesis left back Kris King dragged the impressive Antoni Sarcevic to the ground when challenging for the ball in the penalty area, only for Steven Drench to dive to his right to superbly save Sam Walker's resultant spot kick.

The tables were turned on 65 minutes when Leigh put themselves in front from the spot through Stepien after Jack Dorney was clipped by Liam Hogan when turning towards goal when in a tight space in the penalty area.

Matt Jansen replaced the workmanlike Richard Ratcliffe and should have put the game beyond doubt on 79 minutes when an imaginative free kick from Dorney put Tom Ince clear on the left hand side of the penalty area to cross to the unmarked Jansen at the back post, only for the ex-England Under 21 man to head the ball straight at Woodley goalkeeper Liam Higginbotham.

Jansen was involved in another missed chance on 81 minutes when Woodley's attempt at keeping a high line wasn't clever enough to stop Jansen racing on a through ball that he attempted to square for Stepien but ended up at the feet of Dorney, who took a little too long to pick his shot and instead saw his strike saved by Higginbotham's legs when the initial break seemed likely to end in a second Genesis goal.

Dan Browne's volley from a Sarcevic flick thumped a post for Woodley with five minutes left, two minutes before Dorney was disappointed not to see a penalty awarded for being tripped by Hogan.

Jansen almost capitalised on indecision between Hogan and Higginbotham and managed to tackle the latter when he was left stranded well outside of his penalty area, but the Woodley goalkeeper was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief as he watched Jansen's strike, virtually from the left hand touchline, roll wide of the target.

As the game entered stoppage time, Woodley's desperation for an equaliser increased and they were devastated to see a Queeley header fly just wide of the post, but they were left to rue their gung-ho search for a leveller as Leigh sealed the victory in stoppage time in bizarre fashion.

With little more than seconds left on the clock, Woodley were awarded a free kick just yards inside the Leigh half and there were nervous looks aplenty as Higginbotham positioned himself in the Genesis penalty area in search of an equaliser for his side.

In the ensuing goalmouth scramble, 'keeper Higginbotham almost managed to pull off an incredible overhead kick but Drench managed to claim the ball and immediately send a huge kick up field with almost every man on the field inside the Leigh penalty area.

Only Sarcevic was left to defend the Woodley goal and he misplaced his header when attempting to meet Drench's clearance, meaning all that the alert Stepien had to do was win the race to collect the ball and roll his seventh goal in his last three games into the empty net to seal all three points and take his tally for the season to the 20-goal mark.

Leigh Genesis: Steven Drench, Lee Woodyatt, Kris King, Mark Ross, Chris Page, Dale Whitham (Andy Heald), Jack Dorney, Steve Flitcroft, Richard Ratcliffe (Matt Jansen), Jordan Stepien, Tom Ince (Chris Dykes).

* Genesis’ next outing will again be at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium on Saturday when Ossett Albion are the visitors for a 3pm kick off.