LEIGH may have been the first team relegated from the Conference this season, but they have not given up the fight.

The win took them to 18 points, equal with Redditch, who hold the unenviable record of scoring the lowest points in a season in the Conference.

The Railwaymen need just one point from four games to get away from that tally and manager Steve Bleasdale is determined his side, with an infusion of new faces, can do it.

He said: "We thoroughly deserved the win. We had a game plan and stuck to it. We lost the battle against Halifax and I told them we were not going to losethis one.

"We did the right things and defended well and got the right result, although we were too deep towards the end and put ourselves under pressure.

"I would love another point to get away from that 18 and I think we can do it.

"Mulvaney and Jones have done well upfront and the lads at the back defended superbly."

RMI had the better of the first-half but came under pressure after the break when they defended too deep. Canvey Island, who are themslves on the fringe of relegation and without a win in 12 games, rarely troubled the defence.

Leigh took the lead in the eighth minute when a quick throw-in found Warren Peyton and his well-timed pass beat the offside trap and Lee Mulvaney raced clear before blasting the ball past the Canvey keeper.

A dubious penalty decision put Canvey Island back on level terms when Ryan Clarke was adjudged to have brought down Jon Keeling on the edge of the box. Keeper Jon Worsnop got a hand to Junior McDougald's penalty but could not prevent it rolling inside the upright.

Leigh's frustration at the decision was eased in the 28th minute when Peyton's through ball again caught out the defence and Ben Johnson slipped the ball home for the winner.

Worsnop produced two excellent saves to deny Canvey, while Mulvaney was unlucky to fire the wrong side of the post.