Leigh Genesis 1 Chester FC 1

A LATE equaliser from ex-Leigh front man Chris Simm saw Evo-Stik League First Division North 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 a point from the Exacta Stadium with an injury-time Rick Gleave equaliser in October.

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.

In front of more than 800 supporters, Leigh went close on 27 minutes when a Craig Carney half volley from the edge of the penalty area skimmed Richard Whiteside’s crossbar.

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 that ended up with Parkhouse tumbling to the ground under a Chester challenge but seeing his penalty appeal fall on deaf ears.

In only his second Leigh game, Marvin McDonald was once again impressive and he saw his shot spilled by Whiteside to his right hand side, with Australian midfielder 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 Leigh squandered a golden opportunity to wrap the points up when Whiteside horribly skewed a goal kick straight to Craig Carney, who took the 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 five minutes before the end of normal time when the visitors finally created a clear chance.

Simm broke clear on goal and smashed the ball past Priestley and into 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 Woodley Sports on Saturday, kick off 3pm, being followed by a home game against Mossley at Crilly Park on Tuesday, 7.45pm.