Leigh RMI 1 Everton XI 1 by Martyn Hindley: A GED Courtney equaliser earned RMI a share of the spoils in their pre-season friendly clash with Premiership giants Everton.

The Railwaymen had been put through their paces by a full-strength Bury side three days earlier but came back well against an Evertonian outfit including the likes of Leon Osman and Alex Nyarko -- who have made a number of

top flight appearances.

Although this was billed as a meaningless contest, it will not be to Ged Courtney.

The former Stalybridge striker found himself behind Macclesfield

Town triallist Neil Robinson in the pecking order but his glancing header midway through the second half puts him in contention to start the season up front with Marcus Hallows.

Italian triallist Pascucci nearly opened the scoring for Everton with a blazing strike before Leon Osman produced a left-footed drive that left the impressive Ian Martin (deputising for the holidaying Stuart Coburn) a distinct second-best.

Martin was kept busy in both games, but produced a number of outstanding saves to show he could give the popular Coburn a run for his money for the number one shirt.

Andy Heald -- scorer in two earlier friendlies against Congleton Town and Bamber Bridge -- was at his creative best despite fears about a niggle picked up against Bury.

His free-kick provided the opportunity for Courtney's leveller but it was another Ged who almost won the game.

Transfer-listed Kielty came on to popular acclaim at the interval when the backbone of the Leigh 11 radically altered for the sake of experimentation.

His late lob looked destined to win the tie before Ian Moogan recovered to hack the ball to safety.

A positive exercise for RMI would not have come about without the aid of MP Andy Burnham, whose reward of three minutes on the pitch as a forward is hardly likely to materialise into contract negotiation.

The good feeling in the Leigh camp continued from the Bury game despite a comfortable 3-0 defeat against the Third Division outfit.

Andy Preece's men ran out winners thanks to first half strikes from Gareth Seddon and Simon Whaley, with the game being rapped up late on by a strike from youngster Chris Porter.

Leigh finish their close season warm up games with a trip to Dark Lane on Saturday, where they will take on Unibond First Division side Rossendale United.