Southport moved back into the play-off positions thanks to two goals before the half hour, with a resilient Leigh unlucky not to get themselves back into the game during the second half.

Southport went looking for the early goal, although Leigh put up an attacking start of their own. However, the first chance fell for Neil Robinson who was put in following a move from Neil Prince, who did well to get the ball across to Mark Duffy who flicked the ball on, but Robinson got under the shot from the edge of the area, seeing the ball sail over the bar.

Southport got the early goal they craved, as Liam Blakeman received the ball 30 yards out, and stuck his shot through a crowd of players, with the ball landing inside the right-hand post. They nearly doubled their lead minutes later as a Mark Duffy corner was cleared out to Chris Holland, who sliced his shot perfectly to Tony Gray, whose swerving shot just went wide of the target.

The domination continued for Southport, with Robinson crashing a header against the post as Mark Duffy did well to cross the ball from the right wing. The second goal came just before the half-hour mark as Blakeman played a dangerous ball into the box, which the Leigh defence allowed to ricochet around the box, with Tony Gray doing an acrobatic overhead kick to knock the ball into the net.

Leigh rarely had chance to venture forward, with one of their only attacks coming with minutes remaining in the first half as Robin Gibson got beyond Chris Lever, ran forward and got the ball across to Dave Prout, who fired the ball over the bar from the edge of the area. Leigh actually grew in confidence as the first half drew to a close, with a corner going through to Rob Marsh-Evans whose header was cleared off the line by Neil Robinson.

Leigh’s resilience continued into the second half as Mark Smythe’s 30 yard free-kick was palmed over the bar by Richard Whiteside. Minutes later the ball was allowed to get through to Smythe again, and this time the ball was cleared away for a corner by Ollie James, as Southport just took their foot off the gas.

After their quiet spell, Southport suddenly burst back into life half-way through the second half, as Michael Powell dispossessed a Leigh player near the half way line, playing the ball cleanly through to Tony Gray who got forward, and shot from the edge of the box, only for Dittmar to save the ball well, clearing away for a corner. Minutes later, a clever little move from Blakeman again got the ball through to Gray, who tried to fire the ball low beyond Dittmar, only for the Leigh keeper to palm the ball onto his post, with Robinson unable to do anything with the rebound.