Accrington S 0 Leigh RMI 2: LEIGH tasted victory for the first time in 10 games a result manager Phil Starbuck believes could be the turning point of the season.

The win also boosted the Railwaymen's coffers as they will receive £10,000 for reaching the first round of the FA Cup, where they will travel to meet Conference South promotion hopefuls Cambridge City in a fortnight.

But Starbuck says that the much-needed success could kick-start the season.

"It has been coming for a while and we thoroughly deserved the win," said Starbuck.

"The lads gave us everything and hopefully this will turn around our season. We had several opportunities to get more goals but it was a 100 per cent battling performance. One of the biggest things was keeping a clean sheet, which was fantastic. The back three were superb.

"If we continue to show that form we can close the gap on the teams above us. We need to beat Tamworth on Saturday and get a roll on."

Starbuck, who played the first 70 minutes himself because of injuries to Gareth Stoker, Graham Holmes and Alex Meechan, was impressed with former Bury midfielder debutant Lee Connell and young striker Lee Shillitu, who grabbed his promotion from the reserves, with an effective display when he came on as a substitute.

RMI's first goal began with a quick break by Chris Lane which resulted in Chris Simm heading home in the 24th minute.

The decider came in the 74th minute when Karl Rose sent the keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot. Simm was put in the clear and was brought down in the area as he pushed it past the keeper.

Simm could have added another but he missed a glorious chance with only the keeper to beat.