With Tuesday night's 2-1 victory over Formby maintaining the club's 100% start to the pre-season campaign, Steve Bleasdale's side faced a quick turnaround with this evening's trip to AFC Fylde, FA Vase winners of last season in their previous guise as Kirkham & Wesham, at their new Warton home ground.

That 100% record was put to the test within thirty seconds of the kick off as the Genesis made the worst possible start to the game, goalkeeper Tim Dittmer making a rash misjudgement of a long ball over the top and left in no man's land as the AFC Fylde front man picked up the pieces and put his side in to a shock lead.

Well-organised at the back and comfortable in possession, Fylde did well to restrict their higher-league performers for much of the opening stages, Genesis only threatening as the half began to reach it's midway point, the ever-impressive Jerome Watt having an ambitious lob kept out by the Fylde goalkeeper, who did well to keep the ball away from his goal line, despite moving backwards to retrieve the ball.

Shortly afterwards, there was little that the goalkeeper could do about his side being pegged back as he was beaten to a Jerome Fitzgerald long throw by Leigh centre back Andrew Teague, who bravely put his body on the line and bravely headed the ball over the goalkeeper in to the net for his second headed goal in three days.

Hardly another minute had passed and Leigh Genesis took a 2-1 lead, Watt making a lightning break down the left flank before delivering a teasing low cross that was cleverly dummied by Darren Mansaram, allowing Jordan Stepien to clinically convert the chance at the back post for his first goal for the club on the day of his first appearance in the starting eleven.

Still working his way towards match-fitness, Stepien departed the field shortly afterwards, with Karl O'Donnell partnering Darren Mansaram in attack.

After such a shaky start, Leigh were really beginning to take a grip of the game and were unlucky not to extend their lead when Tom Field's shot from the edge of the penalty area was excellently palmed away by the Fylde goalkeeper, ensuring that the visitors were unable to get a little more breathing space before the break.

Half-time saw a number of changes for Leigh Genesis, with the likes of Richard Chetcuti, Thomas Moore, and Alex Mortimer all taking to the field, along with recent signings Reece Kelly and Danny Penswick.

Genesis goalkeeper Tim Dittmer went a long way to atoning his fatal error at the start of the game with a couple of good saves in the second half, keeping out a pair of long-distance strikes, but he was largely a spectator as Leigh looked to gain the killer third goal.

It looked as though the tables would be turned on the home side when their goalkeeper miscued a clearance to the feet of Penswick, but his long-distance rebound dipped narrowly over the crossbar with the goalkeeper beaten.

Fylde's goalkeeper, a keen participant in the banter with the Leigh Genesis supporters throughout the game because of his more than striking resemblance to Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, was replaced by his understudy for the latter stages of the game. The youngster's first task was to pick the ball from the back of his net as Leigh scored a rather fortuitous third goal, Thomas Moore miscuing his shot right in to the path of the ever-alert Karl O'Donnell, who instinctively prodded home his third goal in four Leigh Genesis outings.

Although the victory proved comfortable in the end, the fixture, against a side with similar philosophies in terms of attacking and passing football, will certainly have proved to have been a worthwhile workout for Steve Bleasdale's side ahead of Saturday's home friendly with Woodley Sports at Hilton Park (3pm).

Leigh Genesis (all used); Tim Dittmer, Bradley Maylett, Jerome Fitzgerald, Tom Field, Andrew Teague, Rob Marsh-Evans, Jerome Watt, Josh Wilson, Jordan Stepien, Darren Mansaram, Chris Holland, Jonathan Goulding, Danny Penswick, Karl O'Donnell, Richard Chetcuti, Thomas Moore, Reece Kelly, Alex Mortimer

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