As was the case for Saturday's 1-0 home Conference defeat to Gravesend & Northfleet, the game was played in high winds with RMI again attacking the Chadwick St End with the wind behind them in the first half. However, Saturday's game was also mirrored in that despite RMI again putting their visitors under pressure with the wind behind their shots, it was in fact their opponents who took the lead going in to the wind, with this time Tony Evans lashing the ball past Michael Soszynski in the RMI goal. Bizarrely, due to traffic problems delaying the arrival of several RMI players, Leigh boss Geoff Lutley had no choice but to begin the game with no less than three goalkeepers on the field until the other players arrived, with Daniel Moreton and James Mann taking up unfamiliar positions outfield. Southport extended their lead shortly before half time when Lee Mulvaney raced on to a through ball to dribble around Soszynski and slot the ball in to the unguarded net to give the visitors a healthy two goal half-time advantage. Ryan Clarke and experienced first teamer Gareth Stoker finally arrived at the ground after being stuck in traffic on the motorway in Oldham to take the field for the second half in the place of the aforementioned makeshift outfield players Mann and Moreton, and it sparked RMI to take the game to the Sandgrounders early in the second half. They got their reward when some trickery from Gary Williams on the left excellently creating an opening for him to produce an inch perfect cross for Graham Tench to tap home at the back post to half the deficit and produce hopes of an RMI comeback. Those hopes were quickly dashed though when a catastrophic mix-up in the RMI defence left the goalkeeper stranded and presented Michael Powell with a simple chance to restore Southport's two goal advantage. The score soon reached rout proportions when Southport, quickly increasing their grip on the game, made it 4-1 when Kevin Leadbetter tapped the ball in at the back post with his first touch of the game, only seconds after entering the fray in place of former RMI centre back Neil Fitzhenry. With RMI down to ten men following the withdrawal of Gary Williams through injury and no substitutes remaining, their humiliation was completed late on when the impressive Mulvaney superbly grabbed his second, lashing the ball in to the back of the net with a terrific strike from distance. Even though it was 'only' a Marsden Trophy game, a good run in an albeit so-called "lesser" cup could've done the world of good for RMI's confidence, but it has merely shattered it, and it certainly wouldn't be classed as much of a shock if Altrincham do as Southport have done and leave Hilton Park with a cup victory, this time when Saturday afternoon when RMI face Alty in the third round of the FA Trophy.

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