Comes to an end as they to local rivals Kidsgrove
.......... ....................... although only lasted until halftime, while striker Tim Grice was once again not seen on the pitch as he was an unused substitute.
Darren Chadwick, Jessy Bavanganga and Charlie Walford all came into the lineup, while Kyle Black was on the bench in his first appearance in a Blues shirt since October 2017 following a long injury lay-off.
Town got off to the best possible start when Aaron Bott gave them the lead with just seven minutes on the clock. A free-kick was whipped in from the left by Trickett-smith which Grove could only half clear and was played across goal by Rob Stevenson giving Bott the easy task of tucking the ball away from three yards out.
Grove had the ball in the net soon after, but it was disallowed for a foul on Danny Roberts but the equaliser came soon enough in the 19th minute.
A corner was swung in and headed goalwards and Anthony Malbon stooped in front of Roberts and nodded it into the net from close range.
On the half-hour mark Trickett-smith fired in a freekick which keeper Kieran Harrison did well to palm away over the crossbar.
However, Grove were on top as the half wore on as their high intensity pressurising game seemed to knock Blues out of their stride as they struggled to string many passes together.
The second half continued in a similar vein with Kidsgrove looking more likely but neither side really created much in the way of clear-cut openings with the exception of a 25yard Chris Baker effort which took a deflection on the way to hitting the outside of Roberts’ right-hand post.
On 70 minutes Lewis Bergin hit a fierce free-kick which was tipped over the bar by Roberts. Blues gradually improved and Bott had a chance when he cut into the box, but couldn’t get his shot away.
The winner came a minute into added time when Blues lost the ball in midfield letting in Kyle Diskin who beat Roberts with a low angled shot at the near post.
THE TEAM
Leek Town: 1 Danny Roberts, 2 Jessy Bavanganga (15 Lee Wilshaw, 72), 3 Lewis Short, 4 Marc Grocott, 5 Darren Chadwick, 6 Jack Sanders, 7 Charlie Walford, 8 Billy Reeves, 9 Aaron Bott (16 Kyle Blake, 82), 10 Dan Trickett-smith (14 Jordan Johnson, 45), 11 Rob Stevenson.
Unused subs: 12 Tim Grice
Yellow card: Marc Grocott, Darren Chadwick, Jack Sanders
Attendance: 252