LEEK LADS TURN IN FANTASTIC DISPLAY TO STAY IN TITLE HUNT
LEEK Town Development continued to put the pressure at the top of Staffs County Senior League Division One with an 8-0 home win against Hawkins Sports on Friday night.
Ethan Latocha was the main tormentor with five goals of his own with Will Robinson wading in with a brace and another coming from Seamus Corcoran in the rout.
Keele University returned to the summit after a narrow 3-2 victory over Eastwood Hanley.
Although Marco Buckley scored a goal in each half for Eastwood, the Keele side hit back through Tom Day who himself added two with Ben Prince also on target.
Fourth-placed Florence were held 3-3 against lowly Audley Reserves at Town Fields, while Warstones Wanderers edged out Craig Shepherd’s City of Stoke 3-2 at the Aldersley Leisure Village. Centre.
In the Premier Division, Redgate Clayton soon put their midweek draw against Kidsgrove behind them when they routinely beat mid-table Madeley White Star 3-0 at Northwood Lane.
Top scorer Dan Holdcroft put Dan Dawson’s men 1-0 up after eight minutes, but Chris Holmes’s plucky Madeley side made things uncomfortable for the hosts up until the 84th minute when former Alsager Town midfielder Nick Woods stepped up to bag a second for Gate.
A minute from time, experienced centre forward Dave Ashley scored to put the game beyond White Star.
Second-placed AFC Alsager continued to hang on the coattails of Redgate and sit just three points behind the leaders after they thumped James Lloyd’s Lichfield City Casuals 5-0 at the Trade Tyre Stadium in the City of the Three Spires.
The South Cheshire outfit set about Lloyd’s men from the off with Fin Pattison scoring in the opening minute then Adam Holford added a second on 20 minutes.
Forward Nathan Barry then added a third for the Swans just after the half-hour with Pattison completing his brace two minutes before the interval.
A somewhat quieter second half only saw one more gaol added to the Alsager tally, that coming once again from Holford in the 72nd minute to make it five.
Third-placed Foley Meir also recorded a 5-0 scoreline, their victory coming at home at the Trentham Foods Stadium against Dave Bailey’s Leekbased Ball Haye Green.
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Sambizi and skipper Tom Wakefield, both held themselves to a brace apiece with another coming from the penalty spot, courtesy of Ben Hewitt. Green remain rooted in 14th place.
Elsewhere, in-form Kidsgrove, in fourth place, picked up three valuable away points following a 1-0 victory over fifth-placed Leek CSOB at Pointon Park.
What a difference returning forward Aaron Johns has made to Silverdale, who recorded their third straight victory - a 2-0 win over East Staffordshire outfit Rocester at Kents Lane.
It was that man Johns who opened the scoring for Allan Davies’s host on the half-hour and was also on the mark with his second on 62 minutes.
Dale have now moved up to fifth in the standings.
Matty Ainger’s Brereton Social are up to eighth after a 6-1 away win over Milton-based FC41 at Northwood Stadium.
Sam Mellor and Charlie Jessup both hit doubles with others for the visiting Rugeley-based outfit coming from Blake Ainger and Adam Mcfarlane.
Jay Jones notched what turned out to be a consolation for FC41.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, hosts Milton Utd recorded a 2-1 win against Audley at the Hardman Centre.
Simon Yorke’s FC Hanley took over at the summit of the Division Two North table after they demolished John Bailey’s Madeley White Star Reserves 6-0 at Manor Road.
Owen Harlod was the pick of the players by bagging a hat-trick with Taylor Coulson weighing in with a brace while Liam Withey added another to the tally.
Second-placed Ashbourne Reserves were thumped 6-1 at Eastwood Hanley Reserves.
Rob Ashley scored three, one from the penalty spot, while Ashley Wright, Leo Cranfield and an own goal supplemented the scoring.
In the derby at Northwood Stadium, hosts FC41 Reserves went down 4-2 to fellow Milton side Milton United Reserves.
Brogan Mears scored for Florence Reserves but two from Callum Davies and others from Jake Gordon and Max Hill ensured visitors Ball Haye Green Reserves ran out 4-1 winners at Lightwood Road.
In Division Two South, fourthplaced Cannock Dynamos smashed Walsall Phoenix 6-1 with Hugh Burrows and Daniel Bowes hitting a brace apiece while Reid Elsmore and Callum Sanders also netted.
Fleet-footed Tommy Wraxton gave Robbie Palmer’s Stone Athletic the run-around by netting two in the opening 13 minutes for his Three Spires United side at Wellbeing Park.
While Spires should have added far more to their account, the Stone defence rode their luck but in the attacking third showed very little.
Then, with moments left on the clock, Jon Westwood scored from the penalty mark to make the score 3-0.
A goal on the hour mark from Marian Anisoiu was enough to see his AFC Fradley side over the line to claim the three points and a valuable move upwards in the table in the 1-0 win over Burton-based AFC Real Medina at Beacon Park in Lichfield.
In the second round of the League Challenge Cup, Jeff Bailey scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute to see his Wolstanton side progress when they overcame hosts Ashbourne at Hillfields in Rocester.
In the Leek Cup second round, Jay Cooper scored the only goal of the game for Dave Dale’s Newcastle Town side in their 1-0 win over Cresswell Wanderers Reserves at 5’s Pavilion Sports Ground, while a 15th-minute Greg Large goal was enough to see his Cheadle Town team edge out Keele University Reserves.