North Leigh 3 Highworth Town 4.

HIGHWORTH TOWN travelled the relatively short distance to Eynsham Park, home of second-in-the-table North Leigh on Tuesday evening and pulled off a shock 4-3 win in a thrilling, incident-packed match.

The team sent out by manager Dave Webb bore little resemblance to the side which gave an abject performance three days previously at Abingdon Town when going down 3-1.

Highworth's hero on the night was centre forward Phil Corcoran, who scored a stunning second-half hat-trick in the space of 12 minutes shortly after the break.

His goals utterly changed the complexion of the game given that Highworth had gone in at half-time on the wrong end of a 2 -1 scoreline.

It must have been a priceless half-time team talk by Webb to produce a strong all-round display and deserved victory.

North Leigh had taken the lead on 15 minutes through a headed goal from centre half Karl Dodds, who was given too much space in the box at a free kick.

Rather than drop their heads, though, Highworth became the stronger side and got the equaliser on 31 minutes from influential midfielder and man-of-the-match, Darren Smart, who struck home a rasping shot from 10 yards, which North Leigh keeper Barrett got a hand to, but could not save.

A few minutes earlier, Barrett had denied 18-year-old Cirencester loanee Dan Wallington a goal on his full debut for Highworth when gettiing down to pull off a good save after a quick break.

With half-time looming, Highworth looked like going in level, however disaster struck two minutes beforehand when former Highworth player Paul Cooper was adjudged to have been fouled in the box and the resulting penalty was duly dispatched by North Leigh's Mark Simms.

The second half caught fire on 51 minutes when referee O'Toole inexplicably awarded another penalty to North Leigh, this time for a foul by stand-in Highworth keeper Curtis Sharkey.

Justice was served, however, when Sharkey, diving to his left, tipped the ball onto the post and the ball was then cleared upfield.

Two minutes later, Highworth went in front when Corcoran got his first goal, sweeping home a fine cross from Wallington on the left.

Corcoran than followed up with two further goals in quick succession, a glancing header and a fine individual effort which destroyed the North Leigh offside trap.

Corcoran had, of course, been discarded by North Leigh at the end of November 2007 so the message to his former employers could not have been more emphatic!

The reminder of the half saw Highworth go close on several other occasions as a wilting North Leigh team looked anything but title-chasers.

Highworth did, however, receive a final scare right on time.

North Leigh were awarded their third penalty of the evening, and this time Simms duly put it away to make the scoreline 3-4, which flattered the home side.

All in all, an unbelievable performance from a rejuvenated Highworth Town side who, if they can remain consistent, could be looking at a top-six finish by the end of the season.