Leigh Genesis Official Supporters
Leigh Genesis 2 Whitby Town 4
By Matt Lawton
September 20 2008
Visitors Whitby Town performed the ultimate smash-and-grab win at Victory Park, coming from behind to eventually secure only their second victory of the UniBond Premier League season against a shell-shocked Genesis side that had previously looked certain of victory. Looking to recover from the disappointment of last weekend's FA Cup exit to Curzon Ashton, Steve Bleasdale's Genesis side looked to be heading for a comfortable victory after taking the lead within twelve minutes, Brad Maylett doing superbly to beat Whitby left-back Ashley Lyth before laying the ball off to former England Under 21 midfielder Chris Holland, who slotted home his first Leigh goal from the edge of the area.
Leigh continued to dominate the game and came close to a second goal when some incisive passing football led to Darren Mansaram heading a Jordan Stepien cross narrowly over the crossbar, before Lyth found himself in trouble with the referee, receiving a yellow card after a rash challenge that left Maylett needing treatment for a head injury.
With Genesis looking as though they'd be in front at the break, they were caught cold five minutes before the half-time whistle when Josh Wilson was caught out at right back, allowing Karl Charlton enough space to fire past Steve Dickinson.
Leigh might have re-taken the lead barely a minute after the restart when Darren Mansaram's celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag after it was ruled that Brad Maylett was in an offside position when retrieving an Alex Mortimer cross.
Five minutes later and Whitby hit the lead when Danny Brunskill cut inside to unleash a terrific strike that left Dickinson with no chance, only for Leigh to equalise within five minutes as Tom Field took control of a bouncing ball and struck a similarly impressive drive that arrowed in to Nick Liversedge's bottom right hand corner.
With Leigh struggling to retain possession and take advantage of their territorial pressure, Whitby took the lead for the second time in the game with eighteen minutes remaining when a cross was headed back across goal for Charlton to force the ball past Dickinson at the back post.
With a grandstand finish on the cards, Leigh almost equalised instantly Whitby failed to clear a corner, the ball bouncing in to the path of Josh Wilson, only for the defender's shot to fly inches past the post after gaining a clear view of goal.
Leigh were pushing forward for an equaliser and, with substitute Matt Berkeley causing problems out wide, were unfortunate not to get back on level terms when Holland sliced over after a Berkeley break; Whitby surviving desperate claims for a penalty as Jerome Watt found himself bundled over at the back post as he tried to reach Berkeley's cross.
However, as their desperation grew, Leigh left themselves exposed at the back and their fate was sealed with two minutes remaining as goalkeeper Dickinson, in an effort to get the ball up field as soon as possible, got caught in possession well outside his area by controversial former Leeds United midfielder Tony Hackworth, who rolled the ball in to the net from an acute angle to secure his side's victory.
Genesis now face a big task to recover from this defeat, their next fixture a tricky looking trip to Marine on Tuesday before a blank weekend to see out September, allowing time for injuries to heal and extra work to be put in on the training ground.
Leigh Genesis; Steve Dickinson, Josh Wilson, Alex Mortimer, Tom Field, Andrew Teague, Rob Marsh-Evans, Brad Maylett (Jerome Fitzgerald), Chris Holland, Jordan Stepien (Matt Berkeley), Darren Mansaram, Jerome Watt
Date: | Saturday 20th September 2008 |
Venue: | Victory Park, Chorley, Lancashire |
Attendance: | 151 |
Half time: | Leigh Genesis 1 Whitby Town 1 |
Competition: | UniBond Premier League |
Scorers: | |
Leigh Genesis | Chris Holland, Tom Field |
Whitby Town | Karl Charlton (2), Danny Brunskill, Tony Hackworth |
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Unless there is a massive turn around and we suddenly kick off from here, I can't see us going up. We refer back to the Ashton game far too much and I keep saying, "We'll improve next game" but I can't say that atm. Dissapointed...
Not confident ahead of Tuesday.
LG-SA.co.uk
i write all my posts cos i care for the club and want us to do well
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008:09:20:22:28:20 by Leyther T.
Agree about Watt - he's our most exciting player yet, by the time the ball gets to him, he has two or three defenders around him.
What I don't understand is that, when we played good football, we ripped Whitby to shreds, so why did we just pump long balls forward for the entire second half when none of Stepien, Mansaram or Berkeley have any great aerial ability?
LG-SA.co.uk
Tuesdays game is a 6 pointer now and you all shud be glad as i wont be there for this one because every game ive attended on a saturday we have lost and ive only seen us win once in the league and that was at ossett.
But lets be honest at least were not fighting in a relegation battle like we have done in the past 5 yrs.
Quote:Quite right mate, and I think people should consider this before they have a moan really. Although we all expect better of the side at the moment, it could be a whole lot worse!Nick_Astra_Army
But lets be honest at least were not fighting in a relegation battle like we have done in the past 5 yrs.
LG-SA.co.uk
LG-SA.co.uk
Quote:Leyther_MattQuote:Quite right mate, and I think people should consider this before they have a moan really. Although we all expect better of the side at the moment, it could be a whole lot worse!Nick_Astra_Army
But lets be honest at least were not fighting in a relegation battle like we have done in the past 5 yrs.
Completely agree. Remember pre season, we were all just looking forward to not fighting relegation. Promotion chasing was just a bonus. It is in grasp, but we were never going to be shoe ins!
Top half does me fine, perfomances as described as dissappointing, but will be addressed as needed. Come on lads!
