Accrington Stanley 2 Leigh RMI 1

IT'S tough at the top. And Accrington Stanley found out just how much on Saturday.

The Reds - on the shirt-tails of Barnet, and now Aldershot, at the summit of the Nationwide Conference - are there to be got at, especially at home.

And Leigh attempted to use every means possible to stop their flow after four games without defeat.

Bustling, bruising, holding. You name it, they tried it, and it didn't make for pleasant viewing.

Fortunately, Lee McEvilly likes to give as good as he gets rather than give in to the opposition's spoiling tactics. And he drew upon his strong, battering-ram style to unlock the Leigh rearguard on two occasions - his first goals of the season.

But just when Stanley were ready to celebrate their fourth win in five games and a fifth consecutive clean sheet, they were dealt a blow at the death.

It was to the back line's credit that the cash-strapped visitors, who are again struggling in the bottom three, had made goalkeeper Jon Kennedy a virtual spectator again.

The former Sunderland stopper had only had one real save to make, from Barry Miller's shot as late as the 90th minute.

The fourth official held up three minutes of added time, but it was as if Stanley had heard the final whistle.

They didn't switch off completely, but their concentration began to fail them. And after substitute Craig Mitchell drove forward and whistled a shot just wide, midfielder Michael Byrne's right foot drive nestled in the bottom corner of Kennedy's goal to the delight of a pitifully small following given the short distance between the two grounds.

There was no time to attempt an equaliser, so the three points remained intact for the Reds. But manager John Coleman will expect more, much more, from his side if they are to maintain their promotion push.

While Stanley had enough chances to wrap the game up, it was a far cry from last week's goal spree at Dagenham and Redbridge.

For starters, they didn't do themselves any favours by giving the ball away cheaply when they were trying to attack.

But when they did get forward, there wasn't the usual pick of candidates lining up for a shot.

Ian Craney had a quiet afternoon, nothing opened up for Steve Jagielka, Ged Brannan was restricted to a long range effort while Paul Mullin was denied a header by the crossbar midway through the first half.

McEvilly broke the deadlock after Craney was tripped just outside the area.

Instead of lining up a shot himself, Brannan baffled the wall by slipping the ball left to McEvilly, and the Northern Ireland international drilled his shot into the bottom left hand corner.

Despite several chances, their next goal didn't arrive until the hour. And McEvilly was the man again. Prendergast fired in an inswinging corner and the striker, masquerading as a winger in the current 4-5-1 formation, charged in from the edge of the box, towered above a crowded goalmouth and thumped a header home.

McEvilly then set up Mullin with a chance to add a third but he clipped his shot wide under pressure from Craig Gaunt.

He turned supplier again after holding the ball up for Paul Cook, but the substitute's low shot was well saved by Martin before Byrne ruined hopes of another clean sheet.