LEIGH RMI meekly bowed out of the FA Trophy on Saturday as two individual errors in 15 minutes gifted their fourth round tie at Margate.

The Railwaymen looked fatigued and predictable as the Kent coast side eased comfortably into the fifth round after recording their first win over RMI.

Leigh were missing Gerry Harrison (concussion) from the regular line-up that has put such a solid run together of late and his absence told. In addition, the Barry Town-bound goalkeeper Mark Westhead was at his most erratic since joining the club in the summer and he put the icing on the cake for Chris Kinnear's men when his error gift-wrapped the hosts their second goal.

The former Wycombe shot-stopper uncharacteristically flapped at an inswinging cross from Terry McFlynn and after the ball had taken an unfortunate ricochet off the body of Neil Durkin, Ian O'Connell poached 'Gate's second in front of their home fans and from those arrears, Leigh never really recovered.

McFlynn had been the chief orchestrator of the move that led to Margate taking the lead with the only other attacking adventure of the half. After Graham Porter's through ball had been poorly dealt with by Durkin, McFlynn nipped through to give Westhead no chance from 16 yards.

Margate didn't look back. Leigh only ventured into the danger zone on one occasion during the opening 45 minutes when Dino Maamria appealed vociferously for a penalty after tussling with Paul Lamb but the tumble was far from gracious and the contact minimal.

Attacking qualities

Indeed, it wasn't until Leigh were playing downhill in the second half that the visitors displayed any of their attacking qualities and even then the moments were few and far between. A fine Michael Twiss effort on the turn was palmed around the post by Charlie Mitten in the hosts' goal and Mitten was again called upon to clear the danger as Dave Ridings' header brought danger for Margate.

Nevertheless, from that moment onwards it was Margate who looked the more likely side to put the ball in the net and through the erratic handling of Westhead and the often anonymous RMI midfield, Phil Collins and Nick Roddis both had chances to pile on the agony for their Lancashire visitors. Instead, Collins fell with an open goal awaiting him and Roddis' only notable contribution to the match was yet another caution that he received for a less than elegant dive 10 minutes from time.

It was only the second time that Roddis had played at home since signing for the Blues in December due to suspension and his last meeting with the Railwaymen culminated in a red card.

Leigh will be hoping to resume their formidable league form of late when they return to Nationwide Conference action with a visit to Hereford United at Edgar Street on Saturday.

RMI: Westhead, Farrell (Fisher 66), German (Heald 86), Durkin, Swan, Kielty, Monk, Ridings, Maamria (Hallows 74), Black, Twiss. Unused: Udall, Lindsay.