Leigh Genesis 3 Warrington Town 2

After last Friday's FA Cup exit to Warrington Town, Leigh Genesis exacted immediate revenge on their neighbours with a 3-2 victory at Chorley's Victory Park that was far more resounding than the final scoreline may suggest.

With the Leigh Sports Village Stadium unavailable, Genesis were forced to take the fixture to Chorley's Victory Park, but a neutral observer would have thought that Leigh had been playing on the field for an age with how well they coped with a slippery surface in what was rapidly becoming a scintillating display of attacking football.

Even with only a few minutes on the clock, Leigh wingers Tom Ince and Jack Dorney were emerging as central characters in the plot, as first Ince dinked a shot wide of the far post after a Dorney through ball, before Warrington goalkeeper Richie Mottram just about managed to nip in front of Ince and claim a low Dorney cross.

With their opponents barely having a sniff of the ball, Leigh deservedly took the lead on fifteen minutes when Matt Jansen met an inswinging Jamie Baguley cross with a header that agonisingly crept beneath Mottram and over the line for the former England Under 21 international‘s first Genesis goal.

Showing the type of quality that came to expected with his high-profile arrival, Jansen was beginning to have a big effect on the came and produced a wondrous flick that sent Kris King scampering down the left wing to deliver a cross that was knocked narrowly wide by Dorney.

With Warrington mounting their first serious attack when earning a corner on the twenty minute mark, the visitors were almost caught on the break as Ince raced in to the Town half before sending a pinpoint cross field ball for Chris Thompson to fire in a shot that was blocked, with Jansen's rebound deflected wide of the target. The resultant corner saw Jonathan Smith head Jamie Baguley's delivery a whisker past the post as Leigh continued to dominate the encounter.

After half an hour, Leigh finally got the second goal that their enterprising play deserved, and it was almost another work of art in itself as centre back Karl Munroe spotted a crafty Dorney run and sent a perfect lofted the ball right in to the path of the ex-Bury man, who made no mistake in drawing Mottram and comfortably slotting the ball in to the bottom corner of the net to give Leigh a two goal advantage at the break.

The second period began in much the same vein as the first had been played out with Leigh on the front foot, and they should have had a third goal within two minutes of the game restarting when Mottram horribly misjudged a flick on from a throw in and completely missed the ball, only for Thompson to slide the ball across the face of goal rather than in to the gaping net.

Leigh didn't have to wait long for that third goal though, arriving just eight minutes in to the second half, and it was certainly one worth waiting for as Jansen grabbed his second goal of the evening. Receiving a Jamie Baguley pass to his feet with his back to goal, there appeared to be little on offer for Jansen, only for the ex-Blackburn Rovers striker to provide a stroke of genius and beautifully turn his marker with one deft touch and send a strike arrowing in to the bottom corner.

By this stage, Leigh were playing true champagne football and, with Jansen sensing a possible hat trick, may have scored a fourth only minutes later, had Jansen got a little more height on his attempted chip over Mottram after impressive right back Mark Ross sparked a lightning counter attack with an incisive ball in front of Jansen.

The game had been in progress for more than an hour before Warrington posed their first genuine threat on goal when Karl Munroe's attempted clearing header fell only as far as Rob Dutton, who sent a powerful strike flying marginally over Stephen Drench's crossbar.

Against the run of play, Warrington did finally find themselves on the scoresheet with twenty one minutes remaining when Chris Gahgan was unnecessarily brought down by Jonathan Smith in the area, with Gahgan dusting himself off to despatch the spot kick past Drench.

Warrington were enjoying their best spell of the game and missed a gilt-edged opportunity when substitute James McCarthy broke through, only to badly slice his shot wide of the target, though it proved only a momentary threat as Leigh once again began to take control of the game.

In what was arguably the best move of the game, Ross delivered another perfect attacking ball, this time to the edge of the area to substitute Jordan Stepien, who cleverly chested the ball down for Ince to unleash a ferocious volley that, had there been any justice, would have been nestling in the back of the net rather than flying a fraction over Mottram's crossbar.

With Chris Baguley coming off the bench to join fellow substitute Stepien in attack, Leigh's forward play was showing no sign of relaxation, with both players superbly denied by Mottram as first Baguley saw his strike palmed away before Stepien's rebound was expertly saved by Mottram's legs.

By this point, Leigh could have almost hit double figures, and the attacks kept coming as Dorney volleyed a Jamie Baguley cross over the bar when it almost seemed easier to score, before Leigh belied a one man disadvantage with Ross sprawled on the ground when Stepien burst past Phil Hadland before hammering the outside of Mottram's left hand post with a thumping strike.

However, despite their domination, Leigh were forced to endure a nervy period of injury time at the end of the game as Drench found himself beaten by a Michael O'Donnell shot that took a vital deflection off Warrington centre back Mike Tomlinson on it's way to the back of the net.

As it was, Leigh managed to hold out for the three points in the end, but after an evening of true quality football, Genesis boss Garry Flitcroft must be hoping that his side develop a cutting edge to match their build-up play ahead of Saturday's trip to Ossett Albion (3pm kick off).

Leigh Genesis; Stephen Drench, Mark Ross, Kris King, Karl Munroe, Jonathan Smith, Steve Flitcroft (Andy Heald), Jack Dorney, Jamie Baguley, Matt Jansen (Chris Baguley), Chris Thompson (Jordan Stepien), Tom Ince