LEIGH Athletic made it two wins in as many matches as their impressive start to the season continues in the Manchester Football League Division One.

On Saturday they produced a comfortable 5-1 victory against Elton Vale in a match where aside from a 20-minute spell in the second half, Karl Shepherd's side were always in control.

Leigh started brightly and found themselves 3-0 up by the interval.

A ball over the top tested the Vale defence and Adam Jones took it down inside the box after 20 minutes.

Then Shepherd led by example with a superb run from midfield.

The skipper played the ball forward and when the defender half-cleared the danger Shepherd was on hand to take a touch and fired it into the bottom right corner.

Then Jones used his pace to cause havoc in the visitors' defence as he ran from half-way and his shirt was constantly being pulled into the box and then he used a trick to try to gain space but he went down in the area.

Tom Simms kept his nerve from the spot to extend their advantage.

But the hosts fell asleep at the start of the second half as Elton Vale's Marvin Browne pulled a goal back but Leigh were not looking to give up their victory.

Simm doubled his tally by rifling a shot into the back of the net to make it 4-1.

Then with 10 minutes remaining Leigh wrapped up the points with a fine team goal.

Then Danny Eaton found himself in space and his cross-come-shot found its way into the back of the net.

Skipper Shepherd said: "We had a great performance in the first half to get three goals in front.

"We played some nice football and created a few chances but our goals were the main ones.

"We sat back early in the second half and I think we were still in the changing rooms to let them score.

"They enjoyed a 20 minute spell putting us under pressure in the second half but it did not look like they would win.

"We have managed to keep the same team since last year and have won our first two games in the league and we just want to carry on winning and hopefully we can improve on last years' performance in the league.

"We may be able to go on a bit of a cup run too."

The victory saw Shepherd's side take third spot while local rivals Pennington were without a game at the weekend after their 2-2 draw with East Manchester last weekend.

Pennington have one win and a draw so far this season and are sixth.

Leigh are on the road at the weekend when they travel to Beechfield United on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Pennington are also on their travels to face Chadderton reserves.