Hereford Utd 0 Leigh RMI 1 by Martyn Hindley: LEIGH RMI hit the Conference Bullseye on Saturday as a Michael Twiss goal 15 minutes from time earned them a critical three points at Edgar Street.

Only Boston United and Yeovil - both chasing promotion - have beaten the Bulls at Edgar Street this season and the former Football League side had not been beaten in any competition since the first week in December before the Railwaymen inflicted this surprise reverse.

The first half had all the entertainment value of an Olympic Curling final and all of the notable action could be carbon dated back to the ninth minute when a flurry of goalmouth activity almost saw United break the deadlock.

Gavin Williams was off balance with his original volley which Mark Westhead did well to keep out and after John Snape had put the ball back into the danger zone, Phil Robinson managed to head against the crossbar.

Amid a flurry of contentious offside decisions and niggly fouls on either side, any flow and rhythm that may otherwise have been present, evaporated and the home crowd started to become frustrated with the ease at which RMI were keeping the scoreline blank.

At the back, Leigh were meteoric with the performances of Gerry Harrison and Neil Durkin in particular deserving of high praise. When Ian Wright looked set to run in on goal two minutes after the interval, Durkin was there to close the danger and again when Paul Parry pulled the trigger and was distracted by the young defender's trailing leg.

Neil Fisher entered the fray in place of Dave Ridings with 18 minutes to go and his presence seemed to shift the balance of the game. He had only been on the field for three minutes though when RMI scored what turned out to be the decisive goal.

Ian Monk, who had been anonymous for the best part of the afternoon, charged down the right hand side and after shrugging off the attentions of John Shirley, put a dangerous ball across the face of goal. A deflection took the ball past the goalkeeper and onto the post and Twiss was on hand to poach the rebound. It was a classic piece of smash and grab football but the hard work was not yet finished.

Mark Westhead was called upon to acrobatically turn a Rob Elmes header around the post with four minutes left and having been equal to the task, Leigh were able to hang on to their third consecutive league win.

The players were elated at the final whistle but they will have to wait until Saturday to continue the run when they face last year's relegated Football League side Barnet at Hilton Park.