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Hyde United 1 Leigh RMI 1

By Matt Lawton February 9 2008
RMI belied their lowly league position with a terrific performance in earning a credible point at play-off chasing Hyde United, though the visitors created enough chances to have claimed what would have been a thoroughly deserved three points at Ewen Fields.

Tuesday night's 3-0 home defeat left RMI cast adrift at the foot of the Blue Square North table, but the struggling Leythers produced an excellent performance against Steve Waywell's Tigers that would have left neutrals struggling to decide which side is chasing promotion and the other fighting against the threat of relegation to the UniBond Premier League.

Leigh midfielder Robin Gibson, an impressive battler in the heart of the RMI engine room, came up with his side's first chance when swerving the ball narrowly wide of former RMI goalkeeper Craig Dootson's far post after seven minutes, before Leigh goalkeeper Richard Mottram, playing in only his second game for the club, was called upon to make an excellent near post save with his legs to deflect the ball away for a corner kick.

Mark Smyth had a golden opportunity to put his side in front after thirty three minutes, but he managed to only flash his shot over the crossbar once Steve Settle's cross had eventually been diverted in to the path of the former Liverpool striker.

Smyth, though, didn't make such a mistake when his second chance came his way after forty minutes as he raced on to Gavin Salmon's through ball and dink a delightful lob over the onrushing Dootson and send the vocal travelling support in to raptures.

However, with the Leigh side seemingly still celebrating an unlikely lead, the hosts drew level minutes after falling behind when Steve Pickford headed a left wing cross past Mottram at the near post, though the goalkeeper got a hand to it and came agonisingly close to keeping the ball out of his goal.

RMI suffered a blow in the second half as Steve Settle was forced to withdraw from the action with a suspected broken rib, sustained in a 50-50 challenge with Dootson that, after Settle had been lying on the ground for several minutes whilst receiving treatment, inexplicably resulted in Hyde being awarded with a free kick on the edge of their own area.

Settle was replaced by Richard Chetcuti, and it was the substitute that came within a fraction of giving his side the lead, his left foot strike being superbly tipped on to the post by Dootson after the goalkeeper's mishit clearance put his side in to all sorts of trouble.

As RMI continued to push forward on a semi-regular basis, Chetcuti hit the woodwork again when trying to force the ball home admist the chaos of a goalmouth scramble, before Matthew Tipton somehow managed to miss the target completely after an excellent Mottram save had been rebounded in to his path.

The visiting supporters had to survive a couple of nervy moments during five minutes of injury time, but they might have even been celebrating a victory if substitute Robbie Talbot hadn't fired the ball over the crossbar from close range in the dying moments.

After putting up such an excellent performance against a side tipped to challenge for promotion at the end of the season, the RMI side deservedly took the plaudits of their supporters at the final whistle and now look to next weekend's home game against Gainsborough Trinity with a renewed sense of confidence. 

Leigh; Richard Mottram, Jonathan Goulding, Andy Heald, Neil Carroll (Scott Willis), Rob Marsh-Evans, Luke Prosser, Steve Settle (Richard Chetcuti), Robin Gibson, Gavin Salmon (Robbie Talbot), Mark Smyth, Owen Roberts

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