By Matt Lawton
April 21 2009

Leigh Genesis signed off a turbulent home campaign with an impressive victory over Bradford Park Avenue, with a goal in each half putting a huge dent in the play-off ambitions of the Yorkshire outfit and doing a huge favour for neighbours FC United of Manchester in the process.

With Saturday's 2-0 home defeat to Matlock Town condemning Genesis to UniBond League Division One North football next season, Garry Flitcroft's side had little more than pride to play for at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium. However, it was Leigh that started by far the brighter side and, after spurning a couple of half-chances, took the lead on twenty four minutes when Jack Dorney cut inside on the right hand side and saw his left-footed cross deflect in to the path of midfielder Karl Brown, who made no mistake in poking the ball past former Leigh goalkeeper Jon Wornsop.

Genesis midfielder Andy Heald saw a long range strike brush the post before left back Kris King came agonisingly close to doubling his side's lead as his shot flew past the post with Wornsop beaten after a bright run forward.

As the conclusion of the first half was within sight, the visitors began to see more of the game, with Genesis particularly vulnerable at corner kicks as first King headed a Mark Haran header off the line before Haran saw a header thump against the crossbar with returning Genesis goalkeeper Stephen Drench beaten.

Fears of a Bradford equaliser were dispelled within seconds of the restart when, with many fans still organising a mortgage to pay for their half-time pints on the West Stand concourse, Steve Flitcroft rattled in a shot from the edge of the area to give Leigh some breathing space.

That breathing space became awfully tight late on when Haran swept in a rebound from close range after Drench had pulled off a world class save to stop Mark Bett's free kick from going in to the top corner, but Leigh managed to hold on and celebrate victory.

The crowd of 301 took Genesis over the 5,000 mark for the season in their final home fixture of the campaign, ensuring an average attendance of 218, beating last season's Blue Square North figure, despite playing in a lower division and having to host home fixtures at no less than seven different venues during the course of the season.

Leigh sign off a rollercoaster season in the Midlands on Saturday when they visit a Hednesford Town side that harbour only an outside chance of a play-off spot on the final day of the season, despite being one of the favourites for automatic promotion only a few short weeks ago.

Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Paul Howarth, Kris King, Steve Flitcroft, Jonathan Smith, Chris Page, Jack Dorney (Dale Whitham), Andy Heald, Karl Brown (Scott Sephton), Jordan Stepien, Tom Ince