LGFC 0 Chorley 2
Pictures now on Site
SAT 06 FEB 2010
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 in 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 twenty 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'd doubled it on forty nine 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 in to 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 sixteen 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 sixty two 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.
Genesis will look to get back on track when they face Clitheroe twice within the next week, first at Leyland's County Ground on Wednesday evening (10th February, 7.45pm) with a place at Bolton's Reebok Stadium for the victor of the Lancashire FA Co-Operative Challenge Trophy Semi Final, before Clitheroe visit the Leigh Sports Village Stadium next Saturday in the UniBond League First Division North (13th February, 3pm).
Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Lee Woodyatt, Kris King, Karl Munroe, Ilie Morariu (Chris Page), Dale Whitham, Jack Dorney (Andy Heald), Steve Flitcroft, Jordan Stepien, Jamie Baguley (Chris Baguley), Tom Ince
Click on any image to begin slide show