Leigh Genesis 1 Chester 1

A late equaliser from ex-Leigh front man Chris Simm saw league leaders Chester snatch a point from an enthralling encounter at Crilly Park in front of Leigh's biggest home crowd for two years.

Backed by an army of supporters, Chester came to Crilly Park in the hope of extending their lead at the top of the table ahead of second-placed Chorley and enjoyed turning the tables on Genesis, who had claimed from the Exacta Stadium with an injury time Rick Gleave equaliser in a 1-1 draw in October.

The game was preceeded by a minute's applause for Chester director Richard Wightman who sadly passed away at the weekend aged just 33, with the crowd of over 800 applauding the memory of the lifelong Chester supporter before the game got underway, with the visitors fielding ex-Leigh striker Chris Simm while Tom Field and Adam Judge were substitutes to complete a trio of former Leythers.

With both sides having a free weekend because of frozen pitches, the weather took a more pleasant turn for relatively mild conditions despite a downpour of rain early in the encounter to add to an already heavy Crilly Park pitch as Chester looked to use the aerial route to create chances, though they were certainly struggling to get anything out of a Leigh defence where goalkeeper Phil Priestley was in terrific form to repeatedly pluck the Chester crosses out of the air.

Leigh went close on twenty seven minutes when a Craig Carney half-volley from the edge of the penalty area skimmed Richard Whiteside's crossbar before the Chester goalkeeper made a simple save six minutes later to keep out a Nathan McDonald free kick, and likewise a later one from Sam Fairhurst, leaving the sides goalless at the break.

Genesis had a half-chance early in the second half when Nathan McDonald saw his shot blocked inside the area before brother Marvin McDonald saw a shot deflected in to the path of Adam Parkhouse on sixty four minutes that ended up with Parkhouse tumbling to the ground under a Chester challenge but seeing his penalty appeal fall on deaf ears.

Chester midfielder Ashley Williams was booked on seventy minutes in what was the only yellow card of a hard-fought game for a rash challenge on Dave Dempsey, with Leigh going in front only a minute later.

In only his second Leigh game, Marvin McDonald was once again impressive and he saw his seventy first minute shot spilled by Whiteside to his right hand side, with Australian midfielder Adam Parkhouse following up to scramble the ball over the line for his first ever Leigh goal on only his third appearance for the club.

Six minutes later saw Leigh squander a golden opportunity to wrap the points up when Whiteside horribly skewed a goal kick straight to Craig Carney, who took the somewhat long route around the Chester defence before dragging his shot wide of the far post after managing to create a clear view of goal for himself.

Leigh's dogged resistance was broken just five minutes before the end of normal time when the visitors finally created a clear chance as Chris Simm broke clear on goal and smashed the ball past Priestley and in to the net to break the hearts of his former club.

The home supporters were forced to endure a nerve-wracking seven minutes of added time before being able to celebrate a well-earned point that brings Genesis within two points of second-bottom Ossett Albion, with the Leythers also having a game in hand on the Yorkshire outfit.

Alan Kershaw's side once again face two games in the next week, with a trip to face Woodley Sports this Saturday (5th February, 3pm kick off) being followed by a home game against Mossley at Crilly Park next Tuesday (8th February, 7.45pm).

Leigh Genesis; Phil Priestley, Rob Flint, Andy Heald, Steve Ferrigan, Alex Grisedale, Dave Dempsey, Adam Parkhouse (James Kelly 88), Sam Fairhurst, Nathan McDonald, Craig Carney (Scott Sephton 90+3), Marvin McDonald. Subs (not used); Jack Smith, James Carey, David Webb