FORM in pre-season friendlies can be an unreliable yardstick by which to judge how well geared-up a club is for the coming challenge.

Suddenly sparkling attacking displays, watertight defences or a string of good results can become just a forlorn hope once the serious competitive action gets under way.

You do get a slight gut feeling at the moment, however, that there might be a slight possibility that maybe, just maybe, Leigh RMI could be on the verge of something special.

The displays seen so far in a 2-2 draw with a strong Bolton Wanderers side, a 5-1 win over Blackpool and a narrow 2-1 victory over Manchester League Premier Division side Highfield have had knowledgable onlookers raving about the quality of the squad put together by Steve Waywell and his assistant Kevin Booth.

Two late strikes conjured by summer signing from Flixton, Chris Bermingham, saw the Railwaymen bounce back from a 2-0 deficit against the Wanderers.

The following Tuesday a tremendous attacking show earned a memorable victory over the Seasiders with the goals shared around the side as Mark Schofield, Tom McKenna, Keith Evans, Bermingham and Chris Shaw got on the scoresheet.

On Tuesday of this week, it was grit-the-teeth time as one or two youngsters were included in the RMI line-upside against an amateur side determined not to give much away.

This time application and pride came to the fore to earn a battling victory with two strikes from Chris Shaw. Ironically all this has been achieved with first team boss Steve Waywell on holiday and the man he brought in from Flixton last season as his number two has done a sterling job holding the reins in his absence.

Booth, who is also an important member of the playing staff, has thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

"We've done really well in the games so far," he says. "In training we've been doing a lot of ball work and the players have said that it doesn't seem as if they've been asked to work that hard. We've been starting at 7pm though and not finishing until 9.30pm so they've certainly put the effort in, perhaps without realising it.

Centre of midfield

"Tom McKenna who has joined us from Accrington Stanley has been nothing short of a revelation. His signing all came about because Tony Briffa wanted to step up and during the talks we found out that Tom was available.

"When he came down he said his best position was wide left but, having known him for while, I said to Steve we should try him in the centre of midfield in a 4-4-2 formation. It's really paid off as he make some excellent runs from deep and."

"At the centre of the back four we've had Mark Schofield and Graham Hill which has worked really well. At left back there's Mick Wallace and on the right Chris Walmesley who's as strong as an ox and great going forward.

"Bermingham looks a great signing on the left of midfield and in the centre there's Tony Edwards who just gets better with age. He sits nicely in the middle of the park and uses the ball ever so well. On the right we've had Jamie Fahey who, to be fair to the lad has been attracting the attention of Southport and although he's done well, I don't think his mind is 100 per cent on his game at the moment.

"There's also Neil Matthews to slot in there who's a six foot-plus lad from Rochdale with tons of promise.

"Up front we've re-united Evans and Shaw for the partnership that did so well for Ashton United a couple of season ago but there's also Paul Kirkham vying for a striker's spot. He's still to make his mark at the club really but I've known him a long time and if he gets going there'll be no stopping him.

"Then there's Paul Wheeler, the former Stockport County player. He makes so many good runs but at the moment we don't really have the players to complement those moves. He's such a good player though that that's something we'll have to work on.

"To slot in somewhere we also have Chris Walmesley who has fantastic ability and genuine pace.

"For the Highfield game we tried out one of two youngsters that our Youth Development Officer Jim Conway has brought to the club. Young Gary Jones came in at right back and had a cracking game. He's a local lad from Hindley, a good defender, quick and looks really useful.

"Steve Stott, who has been released by Bury, played on the left and he also looked good. In goal, we've had another of Jim's discoveries Martin Furnival from Glazebury and he's certainly not let the side down. He's as brave as a lion, willing to learn and he'll listen. He just needs the games now and sometime during this season, with Jim's coaching, we'll have another top class keeper on our books.

"We may need that because I'm not too sure at the minute what's happened with Mike Allison. He's been down training but announced at the last minute that he was going away for the Bolton and Blackpool games, then didn't show this midweek.

"Another lad that's not been near is Graham Leishman, who looked a class act up front for us towards the end of last season. Steve's left messages for him but he's yet to return them."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.