Cefn Druids 0 Leigh Genesis 1

By Matt Lawton
August 3 2010

A second half wonder goal from Paul Williams proved to be the difference for Genesis as their impressive pre-season form continued with a victory over Cymru Alliance side Cefn Druids.

On a pleasant evening in the quaint North Welsh village of Cefn Mawr, Druids' Plas Kynaston Lane ground was playing host to it's penultimate fixture ahead of a move to a brand new facility next month.

With just one more friendly fixture, away to Evo-Stik Premier League side Ossett Town in eleven days, scheduled for Genesis, the Anglo-Welsh clash was one of the final opportunities for several trial players to impress Leigh boss Mark Maddox and his management team.

It took just twenty seconds for Leigh to pose their first threat on goal when Paul Hopkins, playing on the left hand side of midfield, cut inside on the edge of the area and flashed a shot narrowly over the crossbar.

The same player went close on the four minute mark, again cutting inside on to his right foot but this time curling a low shot agonisingly wide of the far post.

With the Leigh back four looking secure, it gave licence for the Genesis midfield to freely spread the ball around and they did so to great effect, enjoying large periods of possession with simple one and two touch passes.

Genesis somehow failed to take the lead on forty one minutes when a crazy period of play somehow intended with the Cefn goal remaining intact.

That man Hopkins had the first chance, thumping a strike against the crossbar with the ball landing at the feet of Mick Vernon, who promptly hit the left hand post before Chris Dykes completed the hat trick of missed opportunities when his attempt from the rebound was hacked off the line by the Druids goalkeeper, leaving the sides level at the break.

After dominating play in the first half, Genesis ended up being lucky not to fall behind on fifty two minutes when a Cefn corner from the left hand side was cleared off the Leigh line.

With the general pre-season pattern of a number of substitutes from each side affecting the fluidity of the game as it wore on, Leigh were perked up with the arrival of Paul Williams from the substitute's bench, who had played at left back in previous friendlies but this time found himself on the left hand side of midfield as a replacement for Hopkins.

Williams demonstrated his attacking quality on sixty eight minutes with a teasing low cross that flew across the face of goal and was crying out for a touch to divert it in to the net, but that was little indication of what was to come when, on seventy five minutes, Williams collected the ball on the halfway line and jogged forward in a seemingly harmless manner before spotting the goalkeeper off his line and brilliantly flighting the ball over his head and in to the back of the net.

The win could have been sealed just two minutes later with what proved to be the final meaningful action of the game when Vernon delivered that was returned from the edge of the box with a curling strike that hit the goalkeeper's left hand post, the third time that Leigh had struck the woodwork in the game.

Leigh are without a game this weekend and complete their pre-season preparations with a final friendly away to Ossett Town on Saturday 14th August (3pm kick off) before their Evo-Stik League Division One North campaign begins on Saturday 21st August with a home game against Curzon Ashton at Crilly Park (3pm).

CEFN DRUIDS 0 LEIGH GENESIS 1
Date	Tuesday 3rd August 2010
Venue	Plas Kynaston Lane, Cefn Mawr
Attendance	-
Half time	Cefn Druids 0 Leigh Genesis 0
Competition	Pre-season friendly
Scorers
Leigh Genesis	Paul Williams(75)

Cefn Druids 0 Leigh Genesis 1

Posted by: LG-SA.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 03/08/2010 22:26

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