Dagenham & Redbridge 2

Leigh RMI 1

WITH over 30 matches in the Football League being victims of the weather it was something of a miracle that this one went on at all.

Come full time Steve Waywell's troops must have wished Dagenham hadn't gone to all the trouble as they became the first team to take six points off Leigh this season.

Yet it was Leigh who made the early running - Steve Jones slamming into the side-netting. However, the potency of Tony Black has been sorely missed throughout the month, and gradually, the Railwaymen were going to get punished for their goalmouth misdemeanours.

It took 17 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, when Junior McDougald capitalised on a loose ball that had been blocked by the ever-improving Neil Durkin. For the third successive game, RMI had gone behind in the opening stages.

Prior warning for the second goal was minimal, and the game had been effectively killed inside 19 minutes. Danny Shipp and Jason Broom combined to release Matt Jones for the Daggers' second.

Despite the sub-zero conditions Leigh battled bravely back and could have had an immediate response. Broom's calamitous back-header was intercepted by the alert Jones. His shot beat the fingertips of the former Welsh international goalkeeper Tony Roberts but was cleared desperately off the line by John Hamsher. In the melee the netting collapsed and a seven minute delay enforced by its reconstruction.

The fun and games did not end there. Dagenham - by no means content with their two goal cushion - went close through the head of Mark Janney, while the dominant Shipp struck the upright. The Ryman League champions had the ball in the net through Shipp, who was unlucky to be flagged offside.

In between times though , Leigh got the goal that they so desperately needed. Ged Kielty's corner was headed onto the crossbar by Ian Monk and Dave Ridings pounced at the far post.

The second half followed a similar pattern, yet Steve Waywell refused to say that the Christmas games had been disastrous.

Leigh were strengthened by the introduction of Rick Harris and Neil Matthews with 28 minutes left on the clock. Indeed, both combined for the best opportunity when the latter shot at Roberts' legs with only the goalkeeper to beat, and he had a similar, although slightly harder chance after good work down the right hand side from Jones.

Yet in the final analysis Dagenham were unlucky not to bag a hatful and compound the misery. Hamsher's header was cleared off the line from captain Andy Farrell, although how much he seemed to know about it was questionable, while Shipp pulled two top-class saves from the impressive Dave Felgate and Goodwin's netted header was wiped out by the linesmans flag.

RMI: Felgate, Spooner, German (Critchley 83), Durkin, Farrell, Swan, Monk, Ridings, Morrell (Matthews 62), Kielty (Harris 62), Jones. Subs not used: Walker, Mason.

Attendance: 1,231

Referee: Mr K Stroud (Bournemouth).