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Leigh Genesis 3 Ashton United 0

By Matt Lawton August 19 2008
Backed by a vociferous following, Leigh Genesis showed the quality that was sadly lacking from Saturday's defeat at Eastwood as they demonstrated their title credentials with a thumping 3-0 victory over Ashton United at Leigh's temporary Victory Park home.

With a distinct lack of attacking flair shown in Saturday's loss at Eastwood, Genesis manager Steve Bleasdale re-organised his line up, reverting to a 4-4-2 formation with exciting winger Jerome Watt making his full debut for the club on the left flank, with a back four of Andrew Teague, Josh Wilson, Rob Marsh-Evans and Jerome Fitzgerald protecting goalkeeper Steve Dickinson.

Within a minute of the kick off, Dickinson was called in to action to save with his legs and deflect the ball away for a corner, but it proved to be a false dawn for Ashton as Leigh quickly began to control the game at their temporary home, Watt dragging a shot wide as Leigh forced a succession of corners.

It was on twenty minutes that Genesis opened their UniBond Premier League account, a Brad Maylett pass rebounding in to the path of Darren Mansaram, who evaded a tackle before thumping a left foot shot in to the net from the edge of the area, taking the honour of being the first ever competitive goalscorer for Leigh Genesis.

Jerome Fitzgerald curled a free kick over the crossbar after a crude foul on Josh Wilson on the very boundary of the penalty area, before Leigh doubled their lead on twenty six minutes when Andrew Teague flicked on a Fitzgerald long throw, Richard Chetcuti heading in at the back post to put Genesis two goals in front.

With many of their fans still enjoying half-time refreshment in the Victory Park clubhouse, Leigh scored their third goal of the evening when Brad Maylett converted a Darren Mansaram cross at the back post with less than a minute on the clock in the second half.

As Steve Bleasdale's side continued to dominate proceedings, recent signing Matt Berkeley was brought off the bench for his home debut and the ex-Droylsden and Gretna striker almost extended Leigh's lead when he pressured the Ashton goalkeeper in to a rushed clearance that Berkeley managed to block, only for the goalkeeper to recover and desperately manage to stop the ball rolling over the line.

The win finally showed what the Genesis side are capable of, and the vocal contingent of Leigh supporters made the journey home a lot more optimistic for the season than when they trooped back from Eastwood at the weekend.

The Leythers now have their second 'home' game of the week on Saturday when Ilkeston Town are the visitors to Victory Park (3pm kick off).

Leigh Genesis; Steve Dickinson, Andrew Teague (Paul Booth), Jerome Fitzgerald, Josh Wilson, Rob Marsh-Evans, Jonathan Goulding, Bradley Maylett, Chris Holland, Richard Chetcuti (Matt Berkeley), Darren Mansaram, Jerome Watt (Alex Mortimer)

Date:

Tuesday 19th August 2008

Venue:

Victory Park, Chorley

Attendance:

140

Half time:

Genesis 2 Ashton 0

Competition:

UniBond Premier League

Scorers:

Leigh Genesis

Darren Mansaram, Richard Chetcuti, Brad Maylett

Ashton United

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