Dagenham and Redbridge 0 Leigh RMI 1 ON paper, Saturday's clash between Dagenham and Redbridge and Leigh was a footballing mis-match.

The hosts, occupying top spot in the Nationwide Conference, had made an unbeaten start to the league having won five of the first eight fixtures with their opponents rock bottom and victorious in just one game.

What followed at Victoria Road highlighted what an unpredictable game football can be.

Leigh stole all the points with a solitary strike seven minutes into the second half when Dino Maamria's looping through ball was nodded home by Marcus Hallows off the underside of the crossbar but they could have increased the margin on a number of occasions as the east London side found themselves outplayed.

Steve Waywell handed league debuts to both Mark Westhead and Craig Skinner but was given a further headache regarding playing personnel in the first half as three players left the field in 35 minutes.

Andy Farrell's contribution to the game lasted seven minutes before a collision with Danny Shipp left him nursing a cut right cheek. For the longer term, the next 20 minutes was much more concerning for the Leigh boss as both Tony Black (groin) and Ricky Harris (ankle) limped off.

Nevertheless, Leigh were subjected to rare Dagenham attacks in the first half. Westhead was called on to parry McGavin's shot wide of the post and soon after, Danny Shipp's thunderous effort from the right boot with a 30-yard effort sailed narrowly wide of the upright.

Far from being a Daggers' procession, Leigh had the best chance of the half in injury time when Hallows' headed over from Spooner's gift-wrapped cross and after an attacking start from the Railwaymen to the second half, Neil Fisher blazed over the bar when the impressive Phil Salt had released him down the left-hand side.

Hallows and Maamria caused endless problems for a Dagenham defence that was all at sea and the hosts only clawed themselves back into contention late on with the introduction of ex-Chelsea striker Mark Stein to the attack.

Westhead was called on to deny Tony Lock's rasping effort and Steve McGavin's twenty-five yarder with just minutes remaining and Shipp dragged his shot wide of the target in stoppage time, Leigh knew that they had claimed a prized scalp, which made Steve Waywell very happy after the game

"The injury list has worried me of late, but we have deserved that result after the way that we have played in the last few matches and it has been coming.

"What pleased me mainly was that we played from the backwith Chris Scott and Neil Durkin playing well after Andy (Farrell) was taken off and Westhead's excellent performance bred confidence through the side. I know that on our day we are better than most sides in the league and our performance today showed that.

RMI: Westhead, Spooner, German, Durkin, Farrell (Scott 13), Harris (Fisher 35), Monk, Salt, Maamria, Black (Hallows 18), Skinner. Subs unused: Felgate, Hayder. Attendance: 1,370. Booked: Fisher.