Boston United 0

Leigh RMI 1 LEIGH RMI took the intimidating atmosphere of York Street into their stride, and in rampant fashion, steamrollered Lincolnshire outfit Boston United to extend their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions.

It was a sensational victory for the Railwaymen, and after all of the chances that they created during the 90 minutes, it was ironic that the decisive moment came with a wicked deflection.

Tony Black cut inside from the right wing and unleashed a left footed shot that looped off the temple of Colin Hoyle and spooned over the line agonisingly for Paul Bastock in the Pilgrims' goal, as he scrambled desperately to keep it out.

It came after 67 minutes, but Steve Waywell's men had been at their best during the first half when they had limited the hosts to a single shot on target. Ged Kielty had looked set to score when Bastock came rushing out to smother the young midfielder, but the goalkeeper had made a rare error just moments earlier when he mistimed a clearance and Ian Monk was unable to capitalise on a pitch that was severely damaged by the driving rain. Jones and Ridings also went close early on, and with the hosts looking second best, Boston manager Steve Evans and his side were subjected to a barrage of boos by the irate home crowd at the break.

For Evans it had been a turbulent fortnight. Dumped out of the Lincolnshire Senior Cup by minnows Stamford and the FA Trophy by Tiverton Town, Evans had been close to resigning last week, but it seemed that his half time team talk had worked wonders in the second half, as Boston were rampant.

Rawle produced a good save from the agile Felgate, before Jim Dick was denied an easy tap-in by Andy Farrell's heroic clearance under pressure. Black's sucker-punch was enough to silence Evans on the bench, who, up until then had been influential in inciting the crowd, as RMI assistant manager Dave Miller was later to explain: "It is always intimidating to come down here, and that makes it extra special to come and win. Steve Evans is a bit vociferous in his opinions, and he tries to get the crowd going. But I was delighted with the way that we played this afternoon and we deserved our three points."

Indeed, Leigh had late chances to put the icing on the victory cake, with Monk and Kielty spurning late opportunities from close range to add to the margin of victory. However, Leigh will go into their next scheduled league fixture at Forest Green Rovers full of confidence after retaining seventh place.

RMI: Felgate, Spooner (German 66), Trees, Durkin, Farrell, Harris, Monk, Ridings, Kielty, Black, Jones. Subs not used: Murphy, Mason, Matthews, Morrell.

Booked: Ridings. Attendance: 1,580. Referee: S Castle (Wolverhampton)