BY JONATHAN EELES

After such a dreadful performance on Saturday, resulting in a deserved FA Cup exit at the hands of Atherstone, Leek travelled over to Glossop expecting a tight affair with the Hillmen having won all of their games this season by the same 1-0 scoreline.

Manager Neil Baker reverted to the starting eleven who had performed so admirably in their previous league game against Macclesfield and they found themselves up against a youthful and extremely energetic and motivated Glossop side who, to their credit, managed to maintain a pressing game for the entire match. The Leek players continually found themselves surrounded by 2-3 Hillmen and having no time on the ball to develop their passing game.

As a result the match was certainly not for the purists and developed into a low quality scrappy affair not helped by a hard fast bouncy playing surface and a number of inconsistent refereeing decisions. Chances were few and far between, particularly from open play, with the Blues perhaps having the slight edge in terms of goalscoring opportunities. After struggling to get out of their own half for the first 10 mins due to early Glossop pressure the Blues managed to get forward and Rob Stevenson fired over from a Billy Reeves corner to the near post. Then, from another corner, had a better opportunity some 12 yds out but scuffed his first shot as the ball tangled in his feet which allowed a defender to close him down and block his second effort.

The Blues thought they had taken the lead after 17 minutes after winning a free kick for a foul on Tom Carr. Josh Ryder flicked on the delivery into the box and the ball was bundled in at the far post but the assistant referee's flag had been raised for offside. However, just 3 mins later the opening goal did arrive. Carr managed to latch onto a ball played forward and advanced into the penalty area under pressure from a couple of Glossop defenders with the ball bouncing and bobbling around. Stevenson also became involved in the tussle for the loose ball before Carr retrieved it and was subsequently upended by a defenders flailing leg. Billy Reeves stepped up to take the penalty and sent the keeper the wrong way to put the Blues 1-0 up.

Glossop looked to hit back and were using tactics of long diagonal balls into the corners for the speedy Sekouba Sanogo and Bevan Burey to latch onto and see what could develop from these situations. As a result the Hillmen fashioned a couple of chances as a header came in from a free kick which was comfortably held by Sam Booth, as was another header moments later by Louis White after a cross from the right. Sanogo then had a cross come shot that flashed across the face of the Leek goal but generally the Blues defence were looking more compact than they had against Atherstone.

After weathering the Glossop storm, and approaching half time, Leek had chances to take what would have been an unexpected 2-0 lead into the break. On 42 mins, as the Glossop defence were still arguing with the officials about a throw in decision Scott Wara took it quickly, and his long throw found Dan Trickett-Smith in the area but his effort blazed over the bar with the Leek forward appealing for a corner which never came. Billy Reeves saw his volleyed effort fly wide on 44 mins following a quickly taken Leek free kick before Ryder saw his header from a corner agonisedly clear the Glossop bar on 45 mins. And there was just time for Wara to be booked for wrestling Sanogo to the ground before the referees whistle blew to end the first half.

GLOSSOP NORTH END 0 - LEEK TOWN 1 HT

The second half saw the same frenetic battle between 2 sets of committed players continue. The action was scrappy and uncompromising but remained intriguing to watch with the scoreline being so close and the surface meaning a defensive mistake was always possible.

In fact, on 52 mins. the Blues should have doubled their lead as a result of an error by the Glossop keeper, Morgan Bacon. A long ball from Leek was played forward down the left wing to Trickett-Smith, which resulted in Bacon rushing out of his area to try and deal with it. However, the keepers intended clearance went straight to Louis Keenan who was backing up Trickett-Smith, but with the goal at his mercy the Leek full back put his long range effort wide to the dismay of the travelling Blues faithful.

A minute later Bacon redeemed himself somewhat with a decent parried save from Marc Grocott's fine left footed effort to keep his side in the game before Glossop went up the other end and White had his own left foot effort wide of Booths post.

The referee incurred the wrath of Leek players and fans on 62 mins. as Trickett-Smith was hauled down by Will Higham in a similar fashion to Wara's first half challenge but the official kept his card in his pocket this time. Then on 64 mins he was at it again as Carr was tripped just inside the penalty area but found himself being booked for a dive, when even the Glossop fans after the game admitted it was more of a penalty than the first!

Therefore, the game remained at 1-0 and, as it moved into the final quarter, Glossop upped their efforts to retrieve the situation. The Leek defence continued to stand firm and no clear chances were created by the home side, although there were one or two hairy moments with the ball bouncing around the box and Booth flapping at one particular cross.

The match moved into stoppage time and Glossop continued to press and pen Leek back enjoying a series of long throws and corners being delivered into the area, and on 94 mins. they got their reward as Burey got on the end of a good in-swinging corner to make it 1-1 at the death.

GLOSSOP NORTH END 1 - LEEK TOWN 1 FT

Overall this was probably a fair result but having conceded with virtually the last kick of the game the Blues will feel this was more like a defeat, and has shades of last season's home game against Prescott Cables at around the same time of the year, when a 96th minute equaliser was conceded. Neil Bakers side will need to pick themselves up from the disappointment and ready themselves for the visit of Ramsbottom on Saturday before another tough looking away trip to Mossley the following week.

Leek Town line up as follows

1. Booth

2. Wara

3. Keenan

4. Grocott (c)

5. Harrison

6. Ryder

7. Carr replaced by Saxon (86)

8. Reeves

9. Davidson

10. Trickett-Smith replaced by Morris (90)

11. Stevenson replaced by Short (86)

Substitutes : Bavanganga, Tomlinson (unused)

Attendance : 269