Dagenham and Redbridge 3 Leigh RMI 1 - THE words 'ludicrous' and 'farcical' have never been too far away from Leigh RMI in their short history, and they cropped up again as they were edged out at Dagenham on the opening day of the season.

The kick-off was delayed as a combination of roadworks and accidents combined to halt RMI's match preparations. They finally arrived at 4:05pm,

and to their dismay were told by referee Singh that they would have just 10 minutes to take the pitch.

Having travelled for nine hours in sweltering conditions and changed into their strip on the team bus, Steve Waywell's men were in no mood to argue.

Any protestations they may have made fell on deaf ears. Without warming-up, players were still doing up their bootlaces as they made their way onto the field, and it told as the Daggers - widely tipped for the Conference title this season - put the game out of reach inside seven minutes.

Crash home

Just four minutes had gone when Steve Perkins and Paul Terry threatened on the edge of the penalty area, combining for Mark Stein to crash home a right-footed volley past Stuart Coburn.

Stein was a constant menace in the early stages, and it was no surprise that he was involved in the second when things opened up enough for Steve McGavin to calmly chip home.

Waywell was understandably nonplussed. His side's preparations had been torn to shreds by contraflows and traffic cones, but still the Railwaymen showed typical Leigh grit in fighting back. Once properly warmed up, chances began to come in droves.

Indeed, RMI's comeback fully warranted the goal that came shortly after the half hour mark. Neil Fitzhenry's free-kick was only parried by Daggers' keeper Tony Roberts who was unsighted by the defensive wall, and Tony Black was the first to the loose ball to halve the arrears.

But Black was one of the guilty forwards as Leigh pushed forward in search of an equaliser. The most out of touch was Damien Whitehead who has shown none of the promise offered by his reputation before he joined the club in the summer. He tested the agility of the aging Roberts with a well-struck effort but the Welshman was equal to it, and the visitors were made to pay for their lacklustre finishing in the second half.

Neil Durkin was the villain as he allowed Stein to stray into space and the former Chelsea striker duly punished him with a clinical finish to put the game beyond any considerable doubt.

Leigh continued to move relentlessly forward, particularly after the introduction of Andy Heald on the hour mark but any flickering lights of hope were well and truly extinguished with 14 minutes remaining.

Fitzhenry had made a positive contribution to the match from the back on debut, but when he hauled down Junior McDougald as the last man, he left the referee one of the least controversial decisions of the afternoon in producing the red card. Just one game into the season and the smallest squad in the league know that one of their number will be absent for three vital games.

Scandalous

Manager Waywell knows that the defeat was not what the performance deserved. "It's absolutely scandalous that they gave us no time to warm up" said the raging boss. "We were on a coach for nine hours and our match was ruined in those first seven minutes. We had to get on with it but it cost us the game, no doubt about it.

"All credit to the players because they adjusted well against one of the best teams in the league. Our goalkeeper had very little to do, but Roberts made four good saves to keep them in front at the other end. I'm just annoyed because I know that if we had played under normal circumstances we would have taken some points away with us."