Unlikely, because Leighton played an hour of the game with ten men, after Dom Marsala was given his marching orders for an altercation with an opponent, that merited little more than a yellow card and a stern talking to.

In truth this was a scrappy affair with neither side able to gain any fluency, playing on a tricky artificial pitch, accompanied by a persistent deluge of rain. Scott Reynolds started with the same side that had limped over the line against second from bottom Crawley Green on Wednesday night.

Leighton were quickly into their stride in the first part of the game and looked the livelier of the two sides. All this changed, however with Marsala’s dismissal. Coulter was withdrawn from the attack and the industrious Hatch was left to run the channels on his own, which handed the initiative to Edgware. Despite the extra man advantage, however, Edgware never looked like breaching a resolute Town defence, superbly marshalled by skipper Guiney and Murphy and Town went into the interval all square with their opponents.

After an excellent move by Leighton in the opening minute of the second half that culminated in McBride curling his effort past the Edgware post, Town quickly found themselves 1-0 down. A dubious free-kick for handball was awarded to the hosts on the edge of the Town penalty area and the Edgware skipper, who had a fine game, converted the opportunity with precision, leaving Wyant in the Town goal with no chance, despite getting his fingertips to the ball.

This was just the start to the half Leighton did not need and a quick response was vital. It came in the form of Lee Coulter, who bravely forced in a cross from Hall under pressure from two Edgware defenders to bring the sides level. The game then became largely a non-event, except for a brief moment of excitement when Tappin appeared to be brought down in the Edgware penalty area, only for the referee to puzzlingly wave away the appeals of the Leighton players for a penalty-kick.

Town made three late substitutes with Ashley replacing Mc Bride, Smith replacing Coulter and Hatch giving way for Bryant, as legs got tired. The game seemed to be heading for an almost inevitable draw with neither side looking particularly threatening, when Hall latched on to a loose ball in the Edgware penalty area and from an acute angle, fired home a welcome, if unexpected winner.

There was time for Edgware to twice threaten the Leighton goal but Town saw out the added time period to breathe a deep sigh of relief. It was a devastating blow for the home side, as on the balance of play, they probably deserved a point from the game.

As it was, Leighton closed the gap on their rivals at the top of the South Midlands Premier League, with every other game on Saturday a victim of the weather.

It was a hard earned three points for Leighton but a costly one too. The outstanding McBride emerged from the match with a worrying reoccurrence of the arm injury that left him side-lined at the beginning of the season and Marsala will receive a three match ban that will keep him out of the FA Vase last 16 tie against Sporting Wolverhampton in a fortnight’s time.

Leighton return to action on Tuesday, weather permitting, when they entertain Cockfosters at Bell Close, kick-off time; 7-45 pm.

Match Report by

Sean Downey