BOTT HAT-TRICK EARNS BLUES FA TROPHY REPLAY SUCCESS
STRIKER Aaron Bott netted his second hat-trick of the season for Leek Town as they eased past Loughborough Dynamo to reach the first round qualifying stage of the Buildbase FA Trophy.
Bott’s triple strike, along with two goals from Rob Stevenson wrapped up a 5-2 win following the 0-0 stalemate as Harrison Park on Saturday.
Leek will now travel to take on Stamford who were 1-0 winners over Belper Town in their replay, thanks to the only goal of the game from Grant Ryan on 57 minutes.
Leek manager Neil Baker said after Saturday’s 0-0 draw: “We can do better,” and they certainly did as Bott fired them into an early lead when he tapped home a cross from Jordan Johnson.
But the lead only lasted for 10 minutes before Loughborough were level when Josh Riley found space inside the area to fire an angled shot past Danny Roberts in the Leek goal.
Five minutes later and Leek had their noses in front for a second time when, following a quick throw, Billy Reeves threaded the ball through to Stevenson who lifted the ball over Alex Egner’s head for 2-1 and it stayed that way up to the half-time whistle.
Stevenson made it 3-1 10 minutes into the second half when a cross from the left was headed into his path by Bott and he found the bottom corner from eight yards.
Bott scored his second of the game on the hour mark to put Blues 4-1 up, but Loughborough netted a second two minutes later when Danny Gordon scored from a left-wing cross.
Any thoughts of a dramatic comeback were extinguished 20 minutes from time when Bott completed his hat-trick with a cool finish. The three goals added to the hat-trick he scored against Widnes on September 23 in his first game since joining from Newcastle Town. ■ NANTWICH TOWN climbed to fourth spot in the Evo-stik Premier Division with a 3-2 win at Grantham Town. The win stretched the Dabbers’ unbeaten run to six games.
However, they had to come from behind when Grantham swept into the lead after just two minutes. Ryan Oliver was the scorer, although there was a hint of offside.
Joe Mwasile missed a good chance of an equaliser on 19 minutes, but it finally arrived when Sean Cooke scored direct from a free-kick eight minutes before the half-time break.
Grantham missed a couple of chances at the start of the second half, but it was Nantwich who went in front through Craig Lindfield when he picked the ball up on the edge of the Grantham area and curled a shot in-off the post for 2-1.
Callum Saunders made it 3-1 nine minutes from time when he picked up a through ball from James Lawrie, but Grantham had the final say in time added on when Jacob Fletcher scored from a freekick to make it a nervy last few minutes for the Dabbers.
After the match, Grantham manager Ian Culverhouse resigned. ■ HANLEY TOWN suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Ashton Athletic in the Hallmark Security League Premier Division.
The Potteries Park outfit, who are still looking to appoint a manager following the departure of Michael Edwards last week, fell behind to goals from Josh Nicholson (40) and George Hassall (76).
Sam Hati pulled one back six minutes from time, but couldn’t forced an equaliser. The defeat saw Hanley slip to 14th spot in the table. ■ CONGLETON TOWN were due to take on Barnoldswick Town at home, but a power cut meant no floodlights and no power in the changing rooms. ■ ALSAGER TOWN and SANDBACH UNITED clashed in a Division One South match at Wood Park and it was Sandbach who secured the bragging rights with a 2-1 win, thanks to two goals from James Kirby, the division’s player of the year for September.
Ryan Goodwin gave Alsager the lead on 16 minutes, but Kirby scored on 37 and 45 minutes to put Sandbach 2-1 up. Alsager thought they had equalised in the second half when Shane Williams had the ball in the net, but the effort was ruled out for offside. ■ BROCTON progressed to the second round of the Walsall Senior Cup after a penalty shoot-out against Wolverhampton Casuals.
The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but The Badgers held their nerve in the penaltyshoot out and will now take on Walsall FC in the next round at Silkmore Lane.