relief for RMI

Forest Green Rovers 1

Leigh RMI 2

By Martyn Hindley

IT'S been a long hard season for Leigh RMI but it looks set to finish just as it had started - with injuries gradually mounting.

Although the current situation is nowhere near the scale suffered in August and September, manager Steve Waywell will be waiting tentatively for news on the condition of Tony Black, who was replaced at half time with a leg injury.

Add that to the suspension of Dino Maamria and hamstring injury that is keeping Dave Ridings out of action and Leigh have the makings of Crisis Part 2.

Glossing over this though was an eighth away win of the season for the Railwaymen which, by putting them on 44 points, should ensure that Conference football returns to the town next autumn.

It was achieved through a brace from local lad Andy Heald - one either side of half time that was enough to account for a Forest Green side who had dragged themselves out of danger with three successive wins.

In the early stages of the game though, it seemed far from plain sailing. Alex Meechan and Rob Cousins both fired efforts inches away from Mark Westhead's crossbar while Langan wasted a glorious opportunity to put Waywell's men on the back foot as Leigh were distinctly low on ideas.

When RMI did come forward though, they were starting to edge themselves back into the game and put Steve Perrin under some pressure. Perrin was forced to make just one save from Black in that period but must have been concerned as both Michael Twiss and Marcus Hallows shot wide with the goal at their mercy.

Sustained pressure

After a sustained period of pressure, Leigh took the lead when Ian Monk's cross was forcefully headed home by Heald - who was playing in place of the unavailable Dave German.

With Hallows hitting the bar within minutes of the restart, Leigh's intentions could not be misinterpreted and it was with some relief that they turned their dominance into a second goal on 57 minutes. Heald placed the ball coolly under Perrin to the delirium of the RMI fans behind the goal and similar scenes were created when Fisher's curling shot made the far corner only for celebrations to be curtailed by a raised linesman's flag.

Undeniably the better side, it was up to the Gloucestershire side to show their credentials to fight back from a two-goal deficit but they never looked likely to trouble Westhead until the final three minutes. David Lee's rasping drive halved the deficit and when Westhead dropped his cross in the first of five stoppage time minutes, it seemed as though Meechan could grab an unlikely point.

The danger was averted and RMI walked away with the three points that they no doubt deserved.

With Dagenham, Woking and Scarborough to play in nine days in the coming weeks, the main concern for Leigh surrounds the fitness of their players.

RMI: Westhead, Harrison, Heald, Durkin, Swan, Kielty, Monk, Thompson (Udall 90), Hallows, Black (Fisher 46), Twiss. Subs unused: Dootson, Spooner. Attendance: 636. Booked: Swan