Entry £8
Lunch £8
Prog £1-50
Teas £3-85
Petrol £15(ish)
Total £36-35
Leek Town is one of 8 clubs I have still to see across the 3 Evostik Northern set ups, so after some difficult recent trips this one held great appeal. I had originally planned to train it to Stoke and catch a bus from there but decided to drive for once. The town is only a 90 minute drive from Sheffield, so I could be home in time for tea! I was pleased to be joined on this trip by a friend visiting from London - after meeting at Sheffield station we headed off down Abbeydale Road. As expected the route took us up winding roads, through Bakewell and then across the far end of the Peak District. As we descended towards Longnor there were several hair pin bends which made the drive interesting! Leek is a Staffordshire market town, with several distinctive buildings and the River Churnet - and my friend also told me there is a narrow gauge railway nearby (Churnet Valley Railway).
After a pub lunch, we headed to Harrison Park. This was a big ground for the level, with long sweeping terraces on three sides with a large seated stand, and a caged gate separating the terraced areas. I believe it has hosted U17 England games in the past and I could see why. This is a tidy ground and well worth the £8 entrance fee.
We'd picked quite a game today - this was a derby with local rivals Kidsgrove and turned into a real humdinger. Inside 14 minutes, Leek were 3-0 up! They opened the scoring after a couple of minutes when Tim Grice back-heeled in, and doubled the lead when Niall Maguire rifled superbly into the top corner after a neat one-two. Then just when it looked like things might calm down Grice ran clear again, slotting coolly past the away keeper.
There was a definite response from the away side, whose kit was an inverted version of the Peruvian national kit - red kit with a white sash. Nicholas Wellecomme's shot was saved and then Jordan Johnson's effort flew over. A key turning point of the game came when Malbon ran through, only to be brought down by Chris Martin in the away goal. Martin was sent off for his efforts, and Malbon slotted in the resulting penalty. We had a game on now. With Kidsgrove starting to dominate, it was their turn to have a man sent off after Dan Skelton's high challenge in the centre circle. Even more bizarrely Malbon then made it 3-2 when he rounded the full back in a move reminiscent of Redondo vs Manchester United in 2000.
The second half was a little less crazy than the first but still utterly unpredictable. Kidsgrove's Johnson made it 3-3 early on, setting up an aggressive and pacey second period. They actually looked like they might take the lead when Malbon's shot was saved shortly afterwards. Leek then had a big shout for handball which was waved away by the referee. There were not many chances to speak of, but the midfield battle was fierce and uncompromising. Leek's Will Booth and Ashley Hodgkinson looked most likely to score, but couldn't quite forge many clear cut chances. The fiery midfield battle then resulted in a melee involving almost every player. The referee handed out a few yellows as a result, and red-carded Kidsgrove's right-back Ross Davidson. So they'd gone from 3-0 down to having a man advantage, got it back to 3-3 and were now down to 9 men! What a crazy game of football!
The journey back was reasonable for once. The first half was somewhat dramatic as we headed across the moors with the sun setting. Although the sat nav seemed to take us the long way back to Sheffield, I dropped my friend off at Dore station just after 7, then was through the door at half past. Autumn is definitely upon us now, so I was delighted to have seen my 11th new ground of the season.
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