Kettering Town 0 Leigh RMI 1 by Martyn Hindley: KEITH Scott's priceless header midway through the second half completed RMI's great escape from Conference relegation.

With the scoreline against Kettering blank at the break the Railwaymen were staring at relegation to the Unibond League until Andy Heald's corner picked out Scott 24 minutes from time for the ex-Dover and Scarborough target man to power a header into the roof of the net from close range.

Scott had been a constant menace to the Poppies' defence all afternoon. He had missed the targets when leaping to crosses from Ian Monk and Neil Fitzhenry in the first half and would have ended the season with a brace had his late chip dipped two inches lower and ended under the bar.

Kettering were relegated a fortnight before this fixture but still did enough to give Mark Patterson's men an early scare. Stuart Coburn was called upon to tip a header from Martin Matthews over the top and showed extreme athleticism to get a hand to Shaun Murray's free kick soon after.

Coburn was left stranded when Victory Asombang produced a text book volley but thankfully for RMI the woodwork came to their aid. Stefan Dancy headed into the side netting for Town but with nothing to play for, their enthusiasm in attack started to wane.

RMI were given a helping hand in their survival quest by the man who shared the home dressing room at Hilton Park until only two months ago.

Former RMI striker Dino Maamria's goal for Stevenage helped to relegate his former club Southport. However, the Railwaymen still needed another result to go in their favour and got it courtesy of Farnborough's surprise win at Nuneaton.

After occupying the relegation places for a huge percentage of the season, Patterson produced sufficient fighting spirit from his side to bludgeon seven points in the last week of their campaign. Leigh did it the nail-biting way but they are safe and the sighs of relief can still be heard at Rockingham Road.