WAYNE Johnson praised a “good allround performance” as Leek Town returned to action with a vital 2-1 victory over fellow promotion hopefuls Belper Town on Saturday.
The Nailers went into the game in second place in the table, so a win was crucial to the Blues’ play-off chances.
An excellent crowd of 315 saw Leek take an early lead on 16 minutes when Matt Johnson’s shot rebounded into the path of Paul Rutter who netted his sixth goal in eight games.
The Blues suffered the loss of both Andy Taylor and Rob Hawthorne to injury during the second half but withstood heavy pressure before Leon Ashman broke clear to slot home in stoppage time.
There was still time for the league’s leading scorer, Lee Stevenson, to fire home a free-kick, but the result lifts Leek to eighth in the table.
Perhaps more importantly, the Blues are now just four points behind Chasetown, who occupy the last playoff position.
A delighted Johnson: “That was an excellent result.
“We dominated the first 35 minutes, during which we took the lead and then for some reason we took our foot off the pedal.
“You can’t afford to take your foot off against sides like Belper they had more possession in the second half but Steve Hodgson had little to do really.
“In the opening half we played some of the best football I’ve seen for a while and although we took the lead we created numerous other chances whilst Steve pulled off a couple of good saves to keep us in it at times.
“It was a good all-round performance, with grit and determination and we deserved to get the points.”
The recent postponement of Leek’s midweek game against Glapwell has thrown the remaining fixture list into chaos.
The Blues are now well into double figures for matches postponed this season, and still have 14 league games to play with less than eight weeks of the season remaining.
The UniBond League have rescheduled Glapwell’s visit for Tuesday, March 9, replacing the game against Chasetown, which has been moved due to the Scholars’ involvement in the Staffordshire Senior Cup.
Instead, Chasetown will now visit Harrison Park on Wednesday, April 7, two days after the big Bank Holiday derby against Kidsgrove Athletic.
In fact, the Blues now face a punishing schedule of seven games in 18 days either side of the Easter weekend that will make or break their promotion hopes this season.
The match at Brigg Town will go ahead at 3pm on Good Friday (April 2) after the Zebras rejected a request from Leek to move the match to Saturday, April 3.
Leek may recall midfielder Ashley Miller from his loan spell at Congleton this week as games come thick and fast in the race for promotion.
Miller has struggled to retain a place in the Blues’ starting line-up after recovering from long term injuries, but has done well at Booth Street in his time there