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Barnet v Leigh RMI

Nationwide Conference
Saturday 16th November 3.00pm

Typical isn't it? Leigh hadn't won away all season until their last two outings. Last Saturday saw the Railwaymen take all the points in a 1-0 victory up at Northwich Victoria, whilst the outing before that - a 3-1 result over at Gravesend & Northfleet - saw Leigh obtain their first away points of the season. Previously to this they had lost seven on the trot away from home, finding the net on nine occasions with double that conceeded.

Their form at home is a lot better with four wins and two draws, but have only scored one more than they have let in.

They like a 4-2 result, as well as the Bees going down by that score line earlier in the season they have beaten Burton 4-2 (home) and lost 4-2 to Yeovil (home) and Southport (away).

In an interview in the Non-League Paper Mark Ward, Leighs assistant manager says his players aren't fit enough to last 90 minutes and leak a lot of goals late on, going on to say how difficult it is to train for an hour twice a week.

Manager Steve Waywell complains of letting in ''too many soft goals'' and players ''not picking up opponants''. ''The best way to defend is to attack'' he says, ''once we sit back we concede goals''.

Dino Maamria and Phil Salt have carried the team this season so far, Maamria bagging ten goals, joint third in the league with Agogo, Moore (Burton) and Sugden (Chester). Meanwhile Southports John Robertson has been drafted in at the back. Apparently he is big and strong with a good presence about him, although he is not the quickest of defenders.

Looks like it could be an open game then, a bit like the earlier encounter, but this time the scoreline better be in our favour. By their own admission they find it tough against full-time professional teams so this is the time to prove them right!

Phils Prediction
Barnet 3 Leigh RMI 1

KBA Meeting

There will be a KBA meeting in the Durham Suite before this game in the Durham Suite. It starts at one o'clock.

BE PART OF IT - AND DON'T TRIP OVER THE STAGE!

Last Six

L L W W D W

Home
W D L L W D

Away
L L L L W W

Results Grid

Below are the result grids for Barnet and Leigh RMI so far this season. These show how many times various scores have been attained by each club.

Key

Barnet

Leigh RMI

League Snippet

Below is Barnet and Leigh RMI league details based on their Home and Away performances.

History

With thanks to Leigh RMI on the web

Leigh RMI FC formally known as Horwich RMI Football club was formed in 1896, this came about after the old Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway company had decided to construct a large locomotive works in Horwich. Overnight a small village was transformed into a sizeable town, upto the works closing down a few years ago it had strong connections with British Rail and the Railway Mechanics Institute. (RMI).

In the early part of the century the Horwich club played their football in the West Lancashire League. They were Champions twice in 1910/11 1913/14 seasons and in 1915 were accepted members of the more senior League, The Lancashire Combination. They were Lancashire Junior Cup Winners in 1924/25, 1929/30 and were Combination Cup Winners in 1927/28. The 152 goals in the 1928/29 season was the highest ever scored by a Lancashire Combination team.

Horwich could not add to these successes in the 30's and just after the second World War they suffered the indignity of a spell in Division Two. They were promoted back into the First Division in 1951 and had another good run of success. In 1953/54 and 1956/57 they were Combination Cup Winners, finally in 1957/58 they were Combination Champions for the first time in their history. In 1968 they declined a place in the newly formed Northern Premier League, despite their qualifying, opting for a place in the Cheshire County League.

In the 70's they went through a bad patch and were near the bottom of the league on two occasions, they were soon able to recover and a few years later were back as one of the leading Cheshire League Clubs. In the 1978/79 season they ran out Cheshire League Champions and Challenge Shield Winners, and in the 1981/82 season they qualified for the North West Counties League. In their first season in this League they finished in the bottom half, but in the next season finished in third place and applied for a place in the Northern Premier League, which was successful.

The first season in the Northern Premier League was a successful one for the club, they finished in eighth position, and gained a place in the Presidents Cup. In the season 1987/88 RMI won the G.M.A.C. Cup, in reaching the Final, Horwich disposed of some of the notable clubs, i.e.. Altringham, Northwich Victoria, Enfield and in the Final Weymouth.

During the 1994/95 season the the momentous decision was made to abandon the Grundy Hill ground with its notorious corner to corner slope, which would prevent any progress through the football pyramid. The Hilton Park Stadium was purchased from the Receivers and agreement was reached for the playing of both Association Football and Rugby League on a ground share basis.With a 10,000 capacity it became the Club's new home towards the end of season 1994/95 with Grundy Hill becoming a site for new homes.

Unfortunately events on the field did not go as planned and the team finished bottom and were relegated in their first season at Hilton Park. This was their last year as Horwich and the Football Assoc agreed with the decision to change their name to Leigh RMI.

Leigh R.M.I. F.C. History-Leigh R.M.I.

Having been relegated to the NPL D1 the previous season it was the job of Steve Waywell ensuring that the club bounced back to the Premier Division. It was a relatively joyless season which saw RMI slump to 14th place but the next year Waywell guided them to the runners up spot and made history when a club relegated from the First Division regained their Premiership status.

RMI continued their upward spiral and finished third in the Premiership, however, it was next season that RMI made a name for themselves when they qualified for the 1st Round Proper of the F.A. Cup. They faced 2nd Division high flyers Fulham managed by Kevin Keegan and at Craven Cottage managed to hold the Londoners to a 0-0 draw with some fantastic goal keeping by David Felgate. They however, could not complete a heroic vistory and lost in the replay at Hilton Park which was sold out, with the game broadcast live on Sky TV. Their league form slumped due to the extra games and they finished an unrewarding 14th.

In 99/00 RMI made the town proud and won the Northern Premiership with 92 points. It was the massive boost the club needed and they had reached the Football Conference for the first time in their history-RMI were more successful than ever before in their 104 year existence.

Their first year in the non-league top flite was not predicted to be an easy one. The club had only 17 players in their squad, they had a crowd of just 500 people (many of whom were away fans) and the bookies had predicted them favourites for the drop. An opneing day defeat against Dagenham did not bode well for the rest of the 41 games but RMI won their next three and were on their way to a memorable season finishing 5th in the league, undeafeted by the champions that year and amassing some great wins on the way.

In the summer of 2001 RMI received a transfer record amount when they sold winger Steve Jones to Crewe Alex for 75k. With some great signings by Waywell the future of Leigh RMI looks to be even brighter than it ever has been.

Last season Leigh finished on 16th place.

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