Leigh Genesis 2 Guiseley 4

Visitors Guiseley might have left with all three points to maintain their slim challenge for the play-offs, but it was Genesis that left with all the plaudits after falling just short of collecting something from an excellent performance.

After conceding four goals in the first forty five minutes of Tuesday night's 8-0 defeat to Nantwich Town at Stainton Park, Leigh's vociferous supporters could be forgiven for fearing the worst when their side fell behind after just thirteen minutes as Guiseley centre back Daniel Ellis met Dave Merris' corner with a thumping header that gave little chance to Genesis goalkeeper Dean Porter.

Ellis almost grabbed a second goal two minutes later but was superbly denied at the back post by the legs of Porter after meeting a left wing cross from ex-Genesis left back Jerome Fitzgerald before Steve Settle fired a free kick narrowly over the crossbar in Leigh's first serious attempt on goal.

After twenty nine minutes, Guiseley doubled their lead with a neatly worked strike as Mark Thompson dummied James Walshaw's left wing cross for Adam Muller to lose his marker and fire home at the back post.

The concession of this second goal seemed to fire Leigh in to action, and Jordan Stepien, making his second ‘debut' for the club re-signing for Genesis an unusual ‘dual registration' deal from Blue Square North outfit Burscough earlier in the week, thumped an excellent snapshot against a post from the edge of the penalty area before experienced midfielder Andy Heald saw a low free kick well saved by Guiseley goalkeeper Piotr Skiba.

The second half began with Leigh putting immediate pressure on the Yorkshire side as Stepien dropped a first time shot from distance narrowly wide of the target after Steve Settle had deflected a hurried Skiba clearance in to the path of the youngster.

Settle himself wasted a glorious opportunity soon afterwards when he intercepted a poor defensive pass and found himself clean through on goal, only to panic with the goal at his mercy and hastily fire straight at Skiba.

With Chris Page playing at centre back because of Alex Cunliffe moving to a midfield role, Richmond Botchey was restored to the Leigh starting line up and began to have more of an effect on the right hand side of the field as he started to see more of the ball. Although not normally considered to be much of an attacking threat, Botchey came within a whisker of pulling a goal back after doing well to pinch the ball from the feet of Guiseley defender Daniel Ellis and avoid another challenge before sending a shot narrowly across the face of goal and wide of the target.

On sixty two minutes, Botchey came up with another terrific run, and this time wasn't to be denied as he broke in to the penalty area and played the ball inside for Andy Heald to fire a rasping strike in to the top corner to send the Genesis ranks in to delight and halve the deficit with a third of the game still to play.

Adam Muller scored his second of the afternoon nine minutes later with a volleyed strike in to the top corner, but that wasn't to dull Leigh's enthusiasm, and they deservedly came back within a goal of their visitors when a neat interchange between Dale Whitham and Richmond Botchey on the right hand side saw the latter accelerate past Fitzgerald and send a teasing low cross in to the area that was too much for Ellis to cope with, who succeeded in only nudging the ball past his own goalkeeper and restore Lancastrian hope.

Kris King found himself brought down on the edge of the penalty area and collected an injury in the process after a determined run, but the referee decided it wasn't worthy of a free kick and Guiseley managed to clear, albeit inviting more Leigh pressure as result. However, just as Leigh continued to push forward in the hope of an unlikely equaliser, Guiseley won a corner on the counter attack and promptly won the game with a near post header from substitute Simoen Bambrook, allowing the visitors to breathe a huge sigh of relief as they performed a smash-and-grab job to claim all three points.

Genesis face their second ‘Roses' battle in a matter of days on Tuesday evening when travel over the Pennines to face Frickley Athletic before a rare free Saturday is followed by a home fixture with Cammell Laird.

Leigh Genesis; Dean Porter, Richmond Botchey, Rob Farrington, Kris King (Nia Bayunu), Chris Page, Andy Heald (Scott Sephton), Steve Settle (Gareth O'Reilly), Karl Brown, Jordan Stepien, Alex Cunliffe, Dale Whitham