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Leigh RMI 2 Shrewsbury Town 2

By Matt Lawton November 19 2003
A late goal from Shrews substitute Kevin Street cruelly robbed RMI of a deserved victory in a thrilling encounter in front of what was by far RMI's biggest crowd of the season at Hilton Park.
In front of a bumper crowd of 1,219 RMI produced a superb performance to almost see off their illustrious visitors, the FA Cup giantkillers of last season who are flying high in the Conference following their relegation from Division Three last season.

RMI started the game the brightest, with Warren Peyton having his twenty five yard curler being tipped superbly over the bar by the Shrews' former Norwich City goalkeeper Scott Howie.

RMI felt they were denied a penalty after just two minutes when Gerry Harrison, who also earnt a penalty in the 4-1 home defeat to Scarborough a week ago, was felled in the box, only for Rotherham-based referee Mr. Pickavance, who was by far the best referee to officiate at Hilton Park this season, to wave away the penalty claims.

Peyton's chance however was to be RMI's only real chance for the majority of the first half, with the visitors, who were roared by a huge away support that had travelled north, dominating proceedings. Peyton went close on to more occasions, forcing Howie in to smart saves, but I'm sure even the most optimistic of supporters wouldn't have expected them to creep in.

The visitors went closest to breaking the deadlock after just ten minutes when former Crewe Alexandra striker Colin Cramb fired the ball past Gary Kelly, only for the ball to bounce off the inside of the post and into the grateful arms of the former Oldham Athletic star.

With an RMI defence bereft of veteran Steve Redmond, and confidence at a fragile low after conceding nine goals in less than a week, the visitors were in confident mood as they mounted attack after attack upon the RMI goal.

However, RMI's England Semi-Pro international centre half Neil Durkin, who has come under fire in recent games, certainly wasn't keen on letting Shrewsbury claim victory and he, along with his partner at centre half Martyn Lancaster, produced an excellent defensive performance to deny the visitors, who, although they were without star striker Luke Rodgers, still posed a considerable threat.

Top scorer David McNiven had another credible penalty claim turned down while Wayne Maden went close after a powering run in to the visitors box, with McNiven almost giving his side the lead when he latched on to a poor backpass.

Kelly denied Cramb again while Durkin and Lancaster made vital challenges as RMI held on to keep the scores level at 0-0 by the time the half time whistle came, with the home support pleasantly suprised at the quality of play on show from their side.

RMI came out for the second half hopeful that their excellent defensive performance would translate into an effective attacking performance. However, those hopes were dashed within a minute of the restart when Colin Cramb made up for hitting the post in the first half by slotting the ball past Kelly with virtually all the time he needed to pick his spot.

Cramb's goal stung the home side into action and the hosts replied almost immediately when Warren Peyton's excellent cross was met by Ian Monk, but the long-serving RMI star failed to guide the ball home.

With the game progressing RMI began to take a firmer grip on the game, and were matching their illustrious full-time visitors tackle for tackle in the heat of the midfield battle, with the impressive Carl Rezai becoming more and more involved in RMI's flowing attacking play on his home debut, working superbly with Warren Peyton and Gerry Harrison in the heart of the Railwaymen's engine room.

RMI finally got a deserved equaliser with less than twenty five minutes remaining when former Hamilton Academicals striker David McNiven scored his tenth goal of the season, latching on to Wayne Maden's flicked header.

With RMI dominating the game they increased the pressure on Howie's goal, and they finally took the lead with less than fifteen minutes remaining.

RMI were given a free kick on the edge of their opponents penalty area after another flowing move was crudely ended, and set piece specialist Warren Peyton stepped up to take the kick. His shot was on target but was saved fairly comfortably by Howie, only for the Town goalkeeper to fumble the ball straight in to the path of McNiven to nudged the ball home to send the home supporters, some of whom had attended the game half-expecting their side to be on the wrong end of a one sided scoreline, wild with delight.

The home support were left talking of celebrating a famous shock victory, and it could've been sealed barely minutes later when McNiven went close to grabbing a hat trick.

However, the desperation of the visitors increased, and when, with the game into stoppage time and RMI's defence stretched, the ball came across goal, with Gary Kelly in no-man's land, straight in to the path of substitute Kevin Street who was left with the simple task of slotting the ball into the unguarded net from close range to send the massive away support delirious and keep his side in touch with the Conference league leaders, while in the process breaking home hearts.

Despite the disappointment of the last minute equaliser, RMI boss Phil Starbuck, along with the Hilton Park faithful, will be hugely encouraged at what was an excellent performance in all departments, with Rezai, Peyton, Durkin and McNiven particularly eye-catching in their brilliance.

There are now plenty of encouraging signs, not to mention plenty of confidence, to take in to Saturday's home game with Shrewsbury's Division Three rivals of last season, Exeter City.

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