Prime were down to the bare bones for the trip to the new league leaders.

Davis, Sander, Walker, Westcott, Mazurkiewicz and Ferguson were all missing for the game that was held at Tonbridge Farm - with Leigh's pitch declared unplayable for the rest of the season.

Balcombe returned in goal with Sykes switched outfield to left-back and Cary restored to the heart of the defence. In midfield, Ellis replaced Walker and Nowak filled the left-wing slot vacated by Flamank's switch to right-back. Goldsmith moved up-front alongside Barker, with Buckland the sole substitute.

The game started in what was seemingly the first sunny day of the year, and Prime - sporting their changed purple kit - were edging the opening exchanges.

The visitors had a much more solid look about them with Ellis winning several early headers and tackles in the heart of the pitch and centre-backs Williams and Cary were marshaling the Leigh strikeforce impressively.

Prime came closest to opening the scoring when Cary's bullet header from a corner was well saved by the Leigh keeper.

Goldsmith also had a couple of speculative efforts from distance but it was Leigh who put the ball in the net on the half-hour mark - only to see the goal chalked off.

Leigh worked the ball into the Prime box and their winger got to the by-line before turning a ball back towards a colleague who netted from point-blank range - but linesman Buckland had already flagged that the ball had gone out of play before the cut-back. This did not go down too well with the home side!

Leigh continued to press but Prime's back 4 was blunting all attacks with full-backs Sykes and Flamank impressive.

At the other end, the half ended with Prime in the ascendancy. Firstly Ellis' header from a Goldsmith long throw was well saved and then after Goldsmith found Abu, the captain's through-ball picked out Barker who shot wide with his left-foot - not helped by the bobbly surface.

At the break Prime were upbeat, knowing that they had very much held their own against the league leaders. There was a worry over Flamank whose groin strain from last week was clearly still an issue, but he battled on for the second half.

Prime nearly undone all of their good work when a rare moment of hesitation by Williams allowed the Leigh striker to go clean through, but to Prime's relief, he pulled his shot wide of Balcombe's goal.

Prime were soon back on the front foot with Henshall having an increasing influence on the game down the right - even winning a series of headers!

The goal came after an hour when Sykes' throw found Goldsmith who nudged the ball into the box. Another Prime player challenged and the ball popped up and clearly hit the Leigh defender's arm and with Ellis appealing louder than he does for an lbw - the ref pointed to the spot.

Barker stepped up and proceeded score the least convincing penalty ever as he bobbled the ball down the middle of the goal, with a late fierce bobbled sending the ball over the keeper and into the net. They all count!

Leigh had changed formations to 4-4-2 but their strikers were still getting no change at all from the Prime back 4 and Balcombe fielded any chipped through-balls and also made a couple of smart saves from distance.

Prime were now exploiting space left by Leigh's defence and the move of the game came when Nowak burst down the left-wing and timed his reverse pass to Barker perfectly. Barker's chipped cross found Henshall arriving on the stretch and his header fell agonisingly wide with the keeper beaten.

There was a long stoppage just after that as Goldsmith challenged the Leigh midfielder for a header and his head connected with the mouth of the Leigh player, leaving the Leigh man with blood pouring from his mouth. The Leigh manager needlessly shouted at Goldsmith but it was obvious that the clash was a pure accident.

Eventually the player returned with some cotton-wool to stem the blood flow - only for Goldsmith's flailing arm to floor him again!

The stop/start nature of the half played into Prime's hands and the clock was stopped again when Flamank gave way to Buckland with 20 minutes to go - a valiant effort considering the obvious discomfort.

Prime could and should have sealed the win just after when the ball dropped to Abu with time and space in the box - but his left-footed shank never threatened the goal.

There was a comical moment just after when Leigh's experienced centre-back who had looked shaky throughout decided it was time to try and dribble the ball out from the right touchline and he called a nutmeg on the closing Nowak - but the attempted pass was badly shanked and Nowak easily intercepted.

A foul on Goldsmith just after gave Abu a chance to make amends but his well-hit free-kick was well held by the Leigh keeper.

Buckland put in a couple of strong challenges and also survived a strong appeal for handball (or be it out of the box) as Prime battled to keep their lead.

Despite Nowak, Ellis and Goldsmith all cramping up, they comfortably held on to a deserved win and the leaders had seen their promotion hopes severely dented by letting The Numbers do 'the double' over them - following their 5-4 reverse earlier in the year.

Talking of reversing, Abu failed to spot Sykes' car in the car park on the way out - CRUNCH!!

Crashed cars apart, it was a great performance from Prime and one that all 12 players can be proud of. 3 games left...9 more points? Possibly on this evidence.