Hull 3 Leigh R.M.I 0 by Martyn Hindley

AN excellent hat-trick from Gary Alexander killed off Leigh RMI hopes of an LDV Vans Trophy upset at Boothferry Park.

Leigh were condemned for their "lack of effort" by manager Steve Waywell during Saturday's FA Cup defeat yet despite their tenacity in the opening ten minutes it was the Third Division side who grabbed an early lead. Chris Scott upended Julian Johnsson as he sprinted into the penalty area and Alexander slammed the resulting penalty straight down the middle.

Leigh were rarely allowed to venture out of their own half during the remainder of the first half as Mark Westhead was called upon on several occasions to deny Brian Little's side a second goal.

David Beresford's left-foot shot from the corner of the penalty box produced a fine save from the former Wycombe goalkeeper and further acrobatics were needed to deny Nick Mohan and Lawrie Dudfield before half-time.

The hosts started the second half in the same, sparking fashion as they had finished the first and almost made their territorial advantage pay dividends when Theo Whitmore's long range shot took a deflection off Andy Farrell before ending up just wide with the goalkeeper beaten.

The next ten minutes saw Leigh's best spell of the match as Michael Twiss had chances to grab the Conference side a surprise equaliser. Twiss failed to trouble former Wanderers keeper Matthew Glennon with a miscued drive but should have done better moments later when he turned the defence and blazed well over the crossbar.

City moved up an extra gear to book their place in the third round with two goals in four minutes midway through the second half as Alexander powered home a header yards and then grabbed a third with the goal of the night - a left-footed 25 yard shot.

Leigh were well beaten but gave a good account of themselves, and will look to pick up when they go to Conference bottom-club Scarborough on Saturday.