Telford and their masses of support arrived at Hilton Park on the crest of a wave after two successive 1-0 victories, the second of which arrived via an injury time winner at Workington on Saturday.

Bearing in mind Telford's league position, not to mention the fresh scars of the 6-1 defeat at Buck's Head a little over a fortnight ago, Leigh boss Steve Bleasdale chose to operate with a five man midfield to try and stifle Telford's attacking options, with Robbie Talbot operating as a lone striker.

However, the threat of only one out-and-out forward gave the Telford defence a certain licence to push forward, and Leigh were fired a warning sign when Asa Charlton was given enough space to get a clear view of goal, though the left back dragged his volley wide of the target.

It wasn't long before Charlton found himself on the scoresheet though, heading a left wing corner past RMI goalkeeper Tim Dittmer after just fifteen minutes of play.

Centre back Rob Marsh-Evans, wearing a bandage to protect a head injury sustained in the 1-0 defeat at Solihull on Saturday, had Leigh's first chance of the game when heading a Jonathan Goulding free kick over the crossbar, but it was to prove to be a rare opportunity as the visitors doubled their lead on half an hour when Jon Adams beat Andy Heald to a left wing cross and nudge the ball past a wrong-footed Dittmer.

Robbie Talbot had a golden opportunity to pull a goal back for Leigh when he raced on to a long ball and managed to knock the ball around advancing Telford goalkeeper Ryan Young just outside the penalty area, only for a retreating defender to get a vital touch on the ball to divert it away from goal and buy enough time for the visiting defence to recover their composure and clear.

Midfielder Andy Heald had a swerving half-volley well saved by Young before RMI's miserable first half was completed when manager Steve Bleasdale was sent to the stands for a comment made to referee Mr. Simpson and his assistant, before diminutive midfielder Robin Gibson was in the perfect position at the back post to clear a header off the line with Dittmer beaten.

Gibson then found himself involved at the opposite end as a promising run that took him past a couple of would-be tacklers before dragging his shot wide of the target in a rare attack, with normality restored when Dittmer was called upon to make a smart save, tipping a Gary Fitzpatrick shot around his left hand post shortly before the half-time whistle.

His one chance apart, Robbie Talbot was struggling on his own against Telford's commanding centre back pairing and as such he was replaced at half-time by Gavin Salmon, with Mark Smyth, previously ineffective on the left side od midfield, joining him up front as Leigh reorganised in the hope of getting back in to the game.

Despite an increase in their attacking ambition, it took only eleven minutes of the second half for RMI to fall further behind when Jimmy Turner latched on to a right wing cross to flick his side's third goal past Dittmer.

Tempers became frayed towards the end of the game as Andy Heald, only returning to the side after a recent suspension, found himself shown a yellow card following an altercation with Lee Vaughan, the Telford right back retaliating with a late sliding challenge shortly afterwards.

Although Heald showed that there was a degree of fighting spirit left in the Leigh side, they showed little threat of even pulling back a single goal and now face the short trip to play-off chasing Hyde United on Saturday.

Leigh; Tim Dittmer, Jonathan Goulding, Steve Brockley, Andy Heald, Rob Marsh-Evans, Luke Prosser, Mark Smyth, Scott Willis (Neil Carroll), Robbie Talbot (Gavin Salmon), Robin Gibson, Andy Wright (Danny Davidson)

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS