Doncaster Rovers 2

Leigh RMI 0

RMI's season went from bad to worse on Tuesday night as an incident-filled game went the way of Doncaster Rovers at Belle Vue.

Steve Waywell's men were rocked as early as the second minute when central defender Iain Swan was carried off with his left ankle heavily strapped, and Rovers looked to take immediate advantage.

Their first opportunity arrived moments later when Campbell stabbed wide following Miller's courageous header across the face of goal and early substitute Chris Scott tracked back excellently to deny Robert Gill as the striker looked certain to score.

The controversy surrounded Scott six minutes before the break when the ex-Burnley star was dismissed for violent conduct after an off-the-ball tangle with Campbell that seemed relatively innocuous. Against such highly-rated opposition, Leigh could not have had a larger mountain to climb. Campbell squirmed an effort wide of the target shortly before the break but through Durkin and Farrell, Leigh continued to defend with the resilience that earned them success last year despite a crippling number of injuries.

The ex-Football League side could not break down their 10-man opposition and it was only with the introduction of young winger Tristran Whitman that options seemed available to the Yorkshiremen. Whitman was the scourge of RMI in last year's corresponding fixture and broke Leigh hearts again with a goal 14 minutes from time - capitalising on an error from Durkin and crashing home off the inside of a post.

The game was killed off minutes later as the menacing Caudwell was stopped in his tracks by Dave German and Jimmy Kelly sent Felgate the wrong way from the spot.

Leigh's attacking options were severely limited by a combination of early setbacks and a disciplined Doncaster defence, and it seemed that Dino Maamria was affected by the hostile reaction offered to him by 2,400 fans who sung his praises just two seasons before.

Leigh's only attack of note was when Ian Monk cut inside from the left flank to force a top class save from Barry Richardson 10 minutes into the second half.

RMI: Felgate, German, Heald (Hallows 53), Durkin, Farrell, Swan (Scott 2), Monk, Ridings, Maamria (Reynolds 81), Black, Fisher. Subs unused: Spooner, Hayder. Attendance: 2,433 Booked: German, Farrell, Maamria. Sent-off: Scott.