Woking 3 Leigh RMI 0 by Martyn Hindley

LEIGH RMI went from the sublime to the ridiculous at the Kingfield Stadium yesterday as a catalogue of defensive blunders ended in a heavy defeat to Woking.

RMI had been stoic two days earlier against Burton Albion and despite going into the half-time interval all square against Geoff Chapple's men, it was all one way traffic after the change of ends.

Grant Payne opened the floodgates when his left-footed effort on the half-volley beat the outstretched palm of Stuart Coburn midway through the second period. But the goalkeeper had already performed gymnastic miracles to keep the scoreline blank, particularly from Warren Patmor e's acute glancing header and Jon Brady's teasing cross-shot that almost caught him napping.

Leigh were never at the races after conceding the first goal and their defence was exposed with alarming regularity once the bizarre decision to replace defender Neil Durkin and playmaker Andy Heald were made.

Substitute Neil Fitzhenry was the guilty party as Ben Abbey sprinted clear to lash home the second, and with the Cards sensing an early visit to the top of the Conference leaderboard, more bad news was to follow.

Coburn put the sprinting boots on to race 30 yards from his goal and confront Patmore as he bore down on goal, but having poorly executed a wild hack at an awkwardly bouncing ball, he was left red-faced as the journeyman striker pounced to roll the ball into the unguarded net from an acute angle.

Leigh were being embarrassed after a first half in which they had shown a lot of promise.

Dino Maamria had looked to follow on from his treble strike at the weekend with a similarly predator-like performance, but the closest he came was a miscued shot from 20 yards that dribbled the wrong side of the upright.

Ian Monk also tested Cards 'keeper Steve Farrelly after getting to the by-line but his drilled shot was never likely to cause real danger and he gathered comfortably.

As RMI's goal difference column diminishes so does their playing staff. Nicky Spooner has been released on a loan deal to Radcliffe Borough, and the club say that they will not stand in the way of that becoming a permanent deal.