‘Title win would not have been possible without Neil Baker’
MAGNIFICENT Leek Town will be playing Step Three football next season after confirming promotion as champions of the Northern Premier League West Division, writes Clive Youlton.
They beat Stalybridge Celtic
3-0 on Friday before edging past Newcastle Town on Monday to confirm their hugely-deserved title.
Josh Brehaut’s side have gone a staggering 23 games unbeaten, winning 20 of them, since losing 5-0 to Runcorn Linnets back on November 14.
They were confirmed as champions 17 points clear with four league matches to play.
They also have a Staffordshire Senior Cup final to look forward to against Rushall Olympic – a repeat of last year’s final which they lost 1-0.
The title and promotion is rich reward for Brehaut who stepped into the role after Neil Baker left the club following an earlyseason defeat to Kidsgrove Athletic.
That August loss was a shock for the Blues who have gone from strength to strength under Brehaut.
The irony was they beat Baker’s Newcastle side 2-1 and there is no doubt he will be just as delighted for a club he has been synonymous with over the years.
It was also fitting that long-term striker Tim Grice should get on the scoresheet, as well as Dan Trickett-smith.
Having been careful not to look beyond the next game, Brehaut was able to finally savour the moment and said: “It was amazing. Massive credit to Jon [Eeles] the chairman for doing a lot of work behind the scenes for us, quietly of course.
“He didn’t want to sing it from the rooftops in case it didn’t happen, but he put on a plan for us and worked closely with Newcastle Town and thanks to them for allowing us to celebrate on the pitch in the manner in which we did afterwards with the fans, which was great.
“Then we had a gathering together around the corner in a local venue and that was really special. We had friends and family there and some of the supporters who are very close to the club and all the volunteers, board members and staff. It was a great occasion.”
The game was a tight one.
Grice scored early, Newcastle equalised, then Leek managed a second-half winner.
“Credit to Bakes [Baker],” said Brehaut. “If any manager was going to put a plan together that was going to disrupt us and cause us problems it was going to be him.
“And I don’t mean just because he knows the players well, I mean because he is an incredibly astute tactician. I spoke to him after the game and he said he left no stone unturned.
“In the first half they really caused us problems and were so up for it. They had only played on the Saturday and we had the extra 24 hours and you would never have known that the way they harried us and pressed it and passed the ball and ran forward in that first half.
“The interval was a significant moment. We were able to gather ourselves and in the second half we were the better team even though they kept fighting.”
Baker deserves credit for his time at Leek too and Brehaut explained: “It was an emotional day. He was incredibly humble. I can’t thank him enough really.
“He has supported me from day one. Me and Bakes have had numerous conversations across the course of the season, before he went in at Newcastle but since he’s been in there as well.
“He’s had a couple of players from us in Jake Avery and George Lewis, and Jake got the equaliser.
“Bakes was incredible after the game and I can’t thank him enough for how supportive he’s been and of course while he is now the manager of Newcastle Town, this season wouldn’t have happened without the groundwork both on and off the pitch of a multitude of people and obviously him being one of the key figureheads behind that.
“He built a group of players here that I’ve been very fortunate to take on. Yes we’ve done a few things differently but the key cogs were in place.
“I’ve learned a lot from Neil Baker and without him it would never have been possible so he deserves a lot of respect for the number of years he was at the club before I came in.”