Leek Town suffered a 2-0 defeat at promotion chasing Worksop town as the Tigers took full advantage from defensive mistakes in the Blues back line to remain third and mean Josh Brehauts team stay second from bottom but still only 4 points from safety.

Leek had begun the game well with Louis Potts pivotable in the early stages. After 3 mins he won the first corner of the game and met the delivery at the near post with a glanced header that took a slight deflection but still required Tommy Taylor to arch backwards and tip the ball over the bar.

The Blues striker was also first to the next corner from the opposite side driven to the near post but was unable to wrap his foot around it under pressure and the ball flew high and wide, but it was a positive start.

At the other end the Leek central back three of Tom Curl, Nathan Okome and Julius Ndene were having to cope with the physical presence of Liam Hughes and the Tigers centre forward got a flick header onto a ball knocked forward looking for Dan Bramall but wing back Olly Heywood was covering well to nod back to Dino Visser.

Bramall was linking up well with Hughes for the home side with the big forward doing well to shield the ball in the Leek area before teeing up the winger who scuffed his snap shot and the ball drifted wide. Bramall had come closer a minute earlier, albeit unintentionally, as his cross to the far post looked as it it might go in but just ended up on the roof of the net.

Back came Leek and Hayden Campbell and Potts had caused nuisance in the Worksop area the ball finally came to Tom Scully who curled a cross towards Liam Buckley who managed to get in front of his man to hook an effort at goal with the outside of his right foot but the ball flew well wide.

With half chances at either end for Campbell for Leek and Luke Hall for Worksop there was nothing to separate the teams in a closely fought first half and, as always in this league, the first goal was always going to be important in setting the tone for the rest of the game.

Unfortunately for Leek it came in the 29th minute and resulted from the Blues losing out on two winnable challenges down their left which resulted in Hall breaking away and curling in a cross that an unmarked Hughes neatly finished with the outside of his right foot, steering a volleyed effort away from Visser and into the net to put the home side ahead.

The Blues had a good opportunity to equalise just 3 minutes later when Campbell was freed with a good ball over the top but he took too long on the ball and his eventual effort was easily blocked by the Tiger defence. Support arrived in the form of Heywood whose threatening cross was put behind to concede a corner. The initial delivery from the set piece failed to beat the first man but when Adam Porter returned the ball with an inswinging left footed cross Ndene met it with a downward header from 8 yards and will have been disappointed not to steer it inside the post with the ball flying a foot wide.

The continued emphasis was now on Leek to try and get back in the game whilst the home side now had their noses in front and something to build on without taking any unnecessary risks as the game still remained tight leading up to the break.

Another chance came for the Blues on 43mins after some magnificent work by Potts. Seemingly chasing a lost cause down towards the corner flag the Blues forward managed to win the ball back and somehow evaded the attentions of 3 Tigers defenders to put in a cross looking for Haywood. The ball was cut out but only to the edge of the area where Billy Reeves met it with a volley but was unable to direct it on target.
The play switched to the other end and Visser produced an important block to deny Hall after Bramalls long diagonal cross from the right found his team mate at the far post whilst the resultant corner was headed just wide by Luke Shiels as the half came to a close.

WORKSOP TOWN 1 - LEEK TOWN 0 HT

Leek made 2 changes at the start of the second half. Okome and Campbell were withdrawn with Liam Edwards and Alex Hurst coming on as their replacements.

The first fifteen minutes of the game suggested it would remain close and the Blues had a great chance to pull level on 51mins when Scully chased down a back pass to goalkeeper Taylor and managed to charge down his clearance with the ball spinning high into the air. Scully showed a lovely bit of skill to bring down the ball in one but Taylor redeemed himself by spreading himself wide to save and concede the corner.
This caused a bit of panic in the Tigers defence as Ndene challenged for the ball resulting in a scramble where it would just not fall for a Blues shirt.

The panic was then repeated in the Leek area in the Tigers next foray forward with a ball in from the right not being initially dealt with and then Scully conceding a free kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the area with a desperate challenge. Joe Leesleys free kick was, however, comfortably held by Visser.

Leek made another change on 63mins replacing Porter with Tyreece Onyeka, who’s first contribution was to win a Blues corner after receiving the ball from a Buckley throw in and this would result in the decisive moment of the match.

The corner was delivered but was not comfortably dealt with by the Worksop defence. In the passage of play that followed both Onyeka and Hurst had shots blocked by good secondary defending and all of a sudden the home side found themselves on the counterattack.

The ball was played down the left hand side for the pacy Hall who looked to be well covered by Buckley but a moment of hesitancy from the Leek player allowed Hall to nip the ball off his toes, go one on one with Visser, and place the ball past the keeper and into the net to make it 2-0 after 65mins.

And despite there still being 25mins left to play there was no way back for Leek after that. Led by Leesley the Tigers work rate was impressive, closing down a Blues shirt all over the pitch, meaning that despite their efforts Leek failed to fashion a further scoring opportunity in the remainder of the game except for a further Potts header from a corner on 90mins flashing across the face of goal with no one there to apply a finishing touch.

WORKSOP TOWN 2 - LEEK TOWN 0 FT

REPORT BY WINNERS LAD

Match Photographs courtesy of Jim Booth HERE

Leek now have a full week to prepare for the big game against Basford United on Saturday 21st December, the last home game of 2025 before they enter the Christmas period fixtures of Macclesfield away and Matlock Town at home.

You can buy your tickets for the BASFORD GAME HERE