Leek negotiate their biggest test to see off Cables and close in on securing title success...
Northern Premier League Leek Town 3 Prescot Cables 0
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LEEK Town continued their push for the Northern Premier League West Division title with a 3-0 home victory over second-placed Prescot Cables.
The Blues had won the reverse fixture in February which dropped Prescot down to third and allowed Runcorn to climb in to second.
Leek then beat the Linnets a fortnight ago in their previous home game to enable Prescot to return to second once more and set up this third top of the table fixture.
Enjoying a 15-point lead over their opponents Leek knew that avoiding defeat would be a significant step in their quest for glory but, in any event, put in a disciplined and tactical performance that resulted in remaining undefeated in 19 games.
The Leek line-up showed one change to the previous week’s victory at Northwich as Lucas Weir returned to the side after a three-week absence with Tim Grice dropping to the bench as manager Josh Brehaut bolstered the midfield and went with a two-pronged pacy strikeforce of Rob Stevenson and Tom Carr.
The onus was certainly on Prescot who needed the result more than Leek and, as a result, they enjoyed the majority of the possession in the opening 30 minutes knocking the ball about with pace and confidence prompted by the deep-lying James Foley.
The Bulls were also looking at every opportunity to get the ball wide to Jack Goodwin on the right and for him to run at Louis Keenan.
However, the Leek full-back stuck to his task well and did not allow his opponent to get past him with some good solid defending.
And that was reflected by the rest of his team mates so much so that for all of their possession the visitors had no real penetration and were restricted to two long-range efforts from Francis Smith that flew harmlessly over Dino Visser’s goal and one effort from Kyle Sambor that was easily saved by the Leek keeper.
With the height of Grice missing up front the Prescot central defence were easily dealing with any balls played forward in the air and Leek’s main threats came when the ball was kept down and Carr and Stevenson were allowed to run at the Bulls defence.
After comfortably absorbing all of Prescot’s probing, the Blues opening goal came on 33 minutes from an unlikely source.
A free-kick out on the right was quickly played into feet of Stevenson just to the right of the area.
He took on and beat his man to deliver an inviting cross into the area which was powerfully met by Olly Harrison, who had gone forward for the free-kick.
However, his goal-bound header was straight into the back of his central defensive partner Julius Ndene. As a result the ball became loose in the area and it was Louis Keenan who was first to react to it and drive home a left-footed shot low into the net to the delight of the home fans.
Leek momentarily lost their defensive concentration on 39 minutes and had a lucky escape when Tony Donaldson, who had been well shackled up to that point, found time and space to pick out striker John Murphy and he showed good footwork before curling a delightful effort that came back off the upright with Visser beaten.
The ball was returned and scrambled clear for a corner which was played to Sambor on the edge of the area in a rehearsed move. His shot was poor and going well wide but Harrison unnecessarily got his head to divert it further to concede another corner which was then punched clear by Visser under pressure as Leek looked a little shaky for the first time in the game.
However, any concern was then lifted with a gift of a second goal for the hosts on 44 minutes. The Cables defence had dealt with an initial Leek attack but when Tom Scully lobbed a return ball into the area Nathan Koehler, under severe pressure from Stevenson, headed the ball past his own goalkeeper for an unfortunate own goal to double Leek’s lead going into the break.
The visitors made a change the break, replacing Koehler with an additional striker in the form of Fidel O’rourke and going to three at the
back, in an attempt to get back into the game.
And the pattern of play for the second half was once again set, with Prescot pushing and trying to breach a resolute Leek defence and the Blues themselves looking relatively comfortable and happy to keep their opponents at arms length and relying on the counterattack.
Chances were few and between with the Cables again being restricted to long range efforts with Goodwin’s effort on 65 minutes coming the closest, while Sambor did well to clear from inside his six-yard box as Leek threatened at the other end following a good run from Fenton Green.
On 73 minutes, O’rourke was inches away from reaching a dangerous cross from Donaldson as Prescot intensified their efforts before Leek’s counterattacking tactics reaped their rewards with the killer third goal on 76 minutes.
Dan Trickett-smith, who had come on for Weir, received the ball just inside his own half and played a perfectly timed pass with the outside of his right foot to pick out the run of Tom Carr down the left.
The striker used his pace to advance into the area and then showed great
composure to produce a clinical left footed finish past Mitch Allen at his near post for a fine goal.
There was no way back for Prescot from this and it looked as if they knew it as the level of their play dropped and they only fashioned one more half chance with Murphy’s shot from the edge of the area easily handled by Visser.
As a testament to their desire and fitness levels the Blues still looked full of energy and eager for a fourth goal as they continued to work hard in pressing the Cables players all over the pitch.
Unfortunately, when chasing down and tackling a Bulls player in the closing stages of the game this resulted in Scully suffering a fibia injury that has now ended his season prematurely. The Blues will certainly miss his energy and drive from the middle of the field but should have an able replacement in the form of Tom Reilly who has been unlucky in not being the starting line up of late.
Leek Town: Visser, Buckley, Keenan, Ndene, Harrison, Scully, Grocott, Green (Reilly, 73), Carr (Opoku, 85), Weir (Trickett-smith, 52), Stevenson. Subs not used: Grice, Parke.
Attendance: 708.