Lancaster City vs. Leigh RMI preview

By Matt Lawton
April 1 2007

After the Lancaster-Leigh fixture was twice postponed earlier in the season, RMI will be hoping to make it third time lucky when they travel to the Giant Axe on Tuesday evening.

While the first scheduled fixture was called off after torrential rain, the second fixture failed to go ahead in controversial circumstances, with the game only being officially postponed with barely ten minutes to go before the scheduled kick-off time due to a frozen pitch.

With the warmer spring weather heading our way, the game should go ahead without a hitch on Tuesday evening in what quite simply are "must win" circumstances for RMI after Stuart Humphreys' side were denied all three points at Farsley Celtic on Saturday, conceding a heartbreaking equaliser when deep in to stoppage time at the end of the game.

RMI find themselves three points adrift of safety going in to the game, but their problems are put in to perspective when you consider that Lancaster were on the brink of extinction earlier in the season and are already relegated with their points total standing at minus one following a ten point deduction enforced because of the club going in to administration.

Before their points were taken away from them, one of Lancaster's few victories came at Hilton Park earlier in the season when the sending off of RMI goalkeeper James Mann helped the Dolly Blues clinch a 1-0 victory, although City have yet to win a single game at the Giant Axe so far this season.

Lancaster have been fielding a particularly youthful side of late, including several players from Lancaster University, and several Conference North managers have commented that City will win at least one game before the end of the season, such is the desire of their young squad.

Leigh boss Stuart Humphreys and his coaching staff simply need to make sure that that game isn't on Tuesday, with anything other than a win simply not an option with the end of the season quickly approaching.