North Ferriby United

By Matt Lawton
April 10 2009

For the second week in succession, Jordan Stepien was Leigh’s last minute saviour as his last-gasp goal sealed all three points for the Leythers in East Yorkshire to extend Garry Flitcroft’s unbeaten start as manager to four UniBond Premier League games.

After Stepien scored a last minute penalty in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Boston United, Stepien got Leigh's Easter programme off to the perfect start as they collected all three points, but it started somewhat differently in East Yorkshire as hosts North Ferriby, safe in mid-table with no chance of either the play-offs or relegation, took the lead inside two minutes when Stephen Drench was beaten by Matthew Bloor's strike.

Leigh were level on twenty five minutes when Andy Heald hit the back of the net with an unstoppable effort from twenty five yards out, his twelfth goal for the club on his one hundred and fifteenth appearance.

Drama struck in the second period as an injury to goalkeeper Stephen Drench forced Flitcroft to replace him with teenager Dean Porter, but the Leigh defence held firm and they claimed all three points in stoppage time when Stepien did well to beat his marker and draw the goalkeeper before sending a delightful lob in to the back of the net, sending the Leigh bench in to delirium as they poured on to the field to celebrate a vital victory.

Genesis now face relegation rivals Buxton on Easter Monday in a fixture that is to be played at Warrington Town's Cantilever Park home on account of the unavailability of the Leigh Sports Village Stadium and the unwillingness of Buxton to accommodate for a switch in fixture dates.

Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench (Dean Porter), Paul Howarth, Kris King, Andy Heald, Jonathan Smith, Chris Page, Jack Dorney, Karl Brown (Steve Flitcroft), Jordan Stepien, Neil Zarak (Chris Thompson), Tom Ince