Leek CSOB vs 1874 Northwich

Recap

1874 made it seven wins on the trot and at the same time kept their unbeaten away record intact with a hard earned victory at Leek on Tuesday.

Ryan Mitchell returned to the side to fill the left back position and Rick Bailey started again in midfield with Tom Peers being on the bench following his exploits 24 hours earlier for Chester

1874 started the game confidently with skipper Foy, Bailey and Crane quickly into their stride constantly probing to try and create openings and scoring opportunities for their forwards. However the 1874 defence had to be alert because although the home side’s main line of attack was the long direct ball route there was often trouble caused by the rugged and persistent efforts by Leek’s two frontmen.

However after just 23 minutes 1874 took the lead through Wellstead after he was sent clear on the right after a good ball from Crane and he cut inside the fullback before firing home left-footed from 10 yards

Leek persisted with the direct route and on a couple of occasions they might have threatened but Mitchell and Farnwoth averted the danger

Brandon and Wellstead both narrowly failed to increase 1874’s advantage but at the interval the score remained 1-0

On the resumption,little changed with 1874 patiently trying to create opportunities from their intricate passing game whilst Leek continued the long ball approach.

A second goal was needed and 1874’s large following we’re desperate for another goal and it arrived on 62 minutes and somewhat ironically it was as a result of a long ball from keeper Conkie that eluded the attention of two home defenders and Brandon’s enthusiasm and muscle allowed him to get to the ball a split second ahead of the home keeper and Brandon lobbed the ball into the net from 15 yards – his eighth goal of the campaign.

So a 2-0 score line meant an easy last quarter for 1874? Wrong! Leek seemed to dig in and find a little more and after wasting a couple of chances they did reduce the arrears albeit somewhat fortunately because a long punt forward was ready to be cleared by Farnworth but he was blatantly pushed and this allowed his striker partner to score with a 15 yard shot that hit the post before crossing the line.

Leek did try for an equaliser but few chances were created although 1874 did almost add to their total before the final whistle sounded to signify another deserved victory that moved them to joint top of the league with Hanley Town.