Barnet 2 Leigh RMI 1 by Martyn Hindley
LEIGH RMI have goalkeeper Ian Martin to thank for preventing a trouncing on the final day of the Conference season at Barnet.
Martin produced a number of wondrous saves to deny the play-off chasing Bees at Underhill, including a second-half penalty from home side hot-shot Ian Hendon.
But the pressure of Barnet's 17 shots on target was unrelenting and a Leigh side, which has cracked under less strain this season, just could not hold out.
They took a sixth-minute lead when Tristran Whitman was felled by Hendon and Dave McNiven crashed the resulting penalty confidently down the centre of the goal.
But that was where the smiling ended for Leigh.
Guiliano Grazioli was on the goal trail again after a hat-trick had sunk former manager Mark Patterson at Hilton Park earlier in the season.
The striker did everything but finish, as Martin twice denied him with his legs in the space of two minutes, and Martyn Lancaster cleared one off the line.
But the hosts couldn't be held for long as Ismail Yakubu headed them level from a Liam Hatch free-kick.
Hatch spurned countless chances to secure the points -- the most notable being a shocking miss from two yards out.
But he played his part in the eventual winner when he flicked on a long free-kick for Grazioli to hit a half-volley from inside the penalty spot.
Any hopes of a Leigh fightback were ended when Liam Coyne was sent off for handling Grazioli's shot on the line, eight minutes after coming on as a substitute, but Martin kept out Hendon's spot-kick with an outstanding dive away to his right.
But despite his best efforts, Leigh's relegation will be confirmed on May 31, unless either Margate or Telford are demoted through off-the-field matters.
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