Leigh RMI 3

Farnborough Town 0 LEIGH RMI started the week in disarray. They were due to play the top of the table club away from home, having taken just four points from eight games to put them at the bottom of the Conference pile.

Eight days on, and their destruction of Farnborough Town at Hilton Park was as sparkling as it was clinical.

Leigh recorded their second three-goal home win in four days against fifth-placed Farnborough but the Ryman League champions should have been three goals ahead after just 20 minutes as Leigh went awol at the back. Former Dover striker Joff Vansittart missed a glorious opportunity in the second minute when Neil Durkin's back-header found the striker but he failed to hit the target from close range. The forward's next chance was in the eighth minute when a mix-up at the back allowed Vansittart to capitalise, but after rounding Mark Westhead he failed to get a shot in on the empty net and Chris Scott's saving tackle ensured that Leigh did not fall behind.

Looked confident

The Hampshire side looked confident in attack having been unbeaten in eight previous games and went close again midway through the half when Chris Piper's left-wing cross found Vansittart unmarked at the far post but the Town striker's glaring miss from a point-blank range volley went a long way towards summing up their afternoon.

Instead, it was a Leigh side oozing imagination and attacking prowess who took the lead after 38 minutes. Ian Monk robbed O'Shea of possession on the edge of the area and embarked on a mazy run before unleashing a glorious curling effort into the far corner of the net.

A goal to the good, Leigh looked far more confident before the break and went close to adding a second in stoppage time when Michael Twiss was played in by Chris Scott but could not beat Farrelly with an angled drive. Graham Westley's visitors have angered many a Conference club since promotion with claims that they would be gracing the Premiership by 2010 but they almost equalised midway through the second half when defensive confusion between Westhead and Durkin almost let in Gary Crawshaw.

Leigh made a mockery of opposition claims in the first minute of stoppage time when Twiss displayed blistering pace to breeze past O'Shea, round Farrelly and slam into an empty net. Just a minute later and Leigh made their superiority pay dividends with a well-crafted third goal. Twiss picked up the ball on the right-hand edge of the penalty area and thundered home his fourth goal in two games with an unstoppable drive that nestled in the bottom corner of the net.

Leigh's stunning victory was despite the absence of eight first-team regulars as well as Ged Kielty - the midfielder involved only as an unused substitute. The swift rehabilitation of Dave Ridings and Iain Swan means that one or both may be available for Saturday's journey to Yeovil Town.

RMI: Westhead, Spooner, Scott, Durkin, Farrell, Salt, Monk, Fisher, Hallows, Twiss, Skinner (Hayder 83). Subs unused: Kielty, Heald, Archer, Felgate. Att: 482.