Leigh RMI 2 Forest Green Rovers 0
By Matt Lawton September 4 2004
"It's just like watching Brazil" isn't a chant you'd ordinarily expect to hear at Hilton Park, but it was fully justified this afternoon with the Railwaymen thoroughly outplaying their struggling opponents on their way to their first victory of the season.
"It's just like watching Brazil" isn't a chant you'd ordinarily expect to hear at Hilton Park, but it was fully justified this afternoon with the Railwaymen thoroughly outplaying their struggling opponents on their way to their first victory of the season.
The victory will have delighted boss Phil Starbuck, unusally dressed in a suit as opposed to the usual club tracksuit, along with his assistant Gary Kelly, who seems to be settling in to his off-field role after struggling with a long-term thumb injury which has kept him out of action on the field, allowing Australian goalkeeper Ian Martin to step in to the breach, and allowing him to make the position his own.
RMI started the game like a house on fire and took the lead within three minutes with virtually the first attack of the game, when an excellent ball from Alex Meechan put through impressive debutant Michael Byrne, who in turn squared it for Chris Simm to allow him to finish from outside the area and score his first goal in competitive action for RMI, before Meechan and Ian Fitzpatrick both had a go at beating Rovers goalkeeper Danny Greaves from long distance.
Leigh were dominating proceedings against their visitors from Gloucestershire, and Simm could've grabbed his second within seven minutes of his first, heading wide a Fitzpatrick corner before Meechan fired over.
It took more than twenty minutes for Forest Green to call Ian Martin in to action, with Mark Beesley's shot from distance forcing the Australian in to a smart save to parry the ball around the post. However, it was only a rare threat to the RMI goal, with the visitors looking very poor in attack in what will undoubtedly be a long, hard season for the side currently rock bottom in the Conference.
Within two minutes of FGR's first attack, RMI should've doubled their lead, when Danny Greaves made a smart double save, denying a Gareth Stoker header before blocking Alex Meechan's rebound, which in truth was directed straight at the Rovers goalkeeper, despite Meechan having almost the whole of his former club's goal to aim at.
The Leigh defence continued to look extremely comfortable, and despite a couple of long range RMI efforts, the two sides went in at half time with RMI a goal to the good, although the RMI faithful were still a little edgy at times with Leigh's recent history of throwing away comfortable leads at the forefront of their minds.
A rapturous reception for Chris Simm was sandwiched between two further Alex Meechan attempts from long distance, with former Mansfield striker Craig Mitchell replacing goalscorer Simm in the RMI front line.
Both sides were lucky to finish the game with eleven men on the field, with the ever-fiery Gareth Stoker landing a left hook on Mark Danks, in response to a clear elbow from the Rovers man as the two tussled in midfield.
The seal was placed on Leigh's victory when Fitzpatrick, who was making his first appearance for RMI since playing a game on loan from Shrewsbury last season, capped off an impressive performance when he fired home a sumptuous free kick in to the top corner of the net after Mitchell had been fouled by Jon Richardson, with tangible relief around Hilton Park as the hosts put clear daylight between themselves and their opponents.
In reality, RMI could've won by more if Alex Meechan and Craig Mitchell had been a little more aware when controlling the ball when clean through on goal, but it certainly isn't something to moan at, with the victory clearly something to build on in the weeks and months to come, although it unfortunately looks to be a tough season for Forest Green as they continue to struggle, a position that RMI can empathise with.
Next week's home game with Aldershot now looks set to be a cracker as a result.
RMI started the game like a house on fire and took the lead within three minutes with virtually the first attack of the game, when an excellent ball from Alex Meechan put through impressive debutant Michael Byrne, who in turn squared it for Chris Simm to allow him to finish from outside the area and score his first goal in competitive action for RMI, before Meechan and Ian Fitzpatrick both had a go at beating Rovers goalkeeper Danny Greaves from long distance.
Leigh were dominating proceedings against their visitors from Gloucestershire, and Simm could've grabbed his second within seven minutes of his first, heading wide a Fitzpatrick corner before Meechan fired over.
It took more than twenty minutes for Forest Green to call Ian Martin in to action, with Mark Beesley's shot from distance forcing the Australian in to a smart save to parry the ball around the post. However, it was only a rare threat to the RMI goal, with the visitors looking very poor in attack in what will undoubtedly be a long, hard season for the side currently rock bottom in the Conference.
Within two minutes of FGR's first attack, RMI should've doubled their lead, when Danny Greaves made a smart double save, denying a Gareth Stoker header before blocking Alex Meechan's rebound, which in truth was directed straight at the Rovers goalkeeper, despite Meechan having almost the whole of his former club's goal to aim at.
The Leigh defence continued to look extremely comfortable, and despite a couple of long range RMI efforts, the two sides went in at half time with RMI a goal to the good, although the RMI faithful were still a little edgy at times with Leigh's recent history of throwing away comfortable leads at the forefront of their minds.
A rapturous reception for Chris Simm was sandwiched between two further Alex Meechan attempts from long distance, with former Mansfield striker Craig Mitchell replacing goalscorer Simm in the RMI front line.
Both sides were lucky to finish the game with eleven men on the field, with the ever-fiery Gareth Stoker landing a left hook on Mark Danks, in response to a clear elbow from the Rovers man as the two tussled in midfield.
The seal was placed on Leigh's victory when Fitzpatrick, who was making his first appearance for RMI since playing a game on loan from Shrewsbury last season, capped off an impressive performance when he fired home a sumptuous free kick in to the top corner of the net after Mitchell had been fouled by Jon Richardson, with tangible relief around Hilton Park as the hosts put clear daylight between themselves and their opponents.
In reality, RMI could've won by more if Alex Meechan and Craig Mitchell had been a little more aware when controlling the ball when clean through on goal, but it certainly isn't something to moan at, with the victory clearly something to build on in the weeks and months to come, although it unfortunately looks to be a tough season for Forest Green as they continue to struggle, a position that RMI can empathise with.
Next week's home game with Aldershot now looks set to be a cracker as a result.
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