UniBond Premier Division
Ossett Town 2 Leek Town 0

Leek’s new manager Paul Moore has his work cut out for him as he attempts to save the club from relegation after Blues suffered their 8th league defeat on the bounce with defeat at fellow strugglers Ossett Town on Saturday.

Moore met the players for the first time when he took over on Monday (today) before taking charge of his first match yesterday (Tuesday), However, he missed the dire performance at Ossett which would have taught him where most of Blues’ problems lie.

Both sides served up poor performances and although Leek enjoyed spells of pressure, Ossett used their height advantage to secure the points.

Leek opened on the attack and Mark Devlin, Simon Eldershaw and Dorryl Proffitt combined to carve out the first chance but Eldershaw’s header was blocked.

In the 12th minute Dave MacPherson scuffed a shot following Eldershaw’s knock down and then MacPherson had another shot blocked as Leek looked for the opener.

However, Martin Kearney came to Leek’s rescue in the 21st minute when he saved well to deny Paul Rickers who had cut in from the left.

Leek lost the services of MacPherson after only 36 minutes when he was forced to leave the field suffering the effects of a chest infection and was replaced by Steve Brannan.

In the 41st minute Ant Danylyk split the Ossett defence with a good ball for Alan Nagington who went past one defender only for Neil Bennett to beat out his angled drive with his fists.

Leek finished the half on a high note and two minutes from the break Bennett dropped Lee Barrow’s free kick and the ball fell to Mark Devlin who volleyed his shot over the crossbar from the edge of the box.

Ossett were quickly into their stride in the second half and within 4 minutes they swept into the lead when Kirk Wheeler rose to meet a corner to head home off the underside of the crossbar.

Six minutes later Paul Booth headed narrowly wide before Brannan saw his shot blocked as Leek looked to get back on level terms.

However, on the hour Ossett stretched their lead when Andy Hayward intercepted a poor back-pass to slam a shot against the upright and the ball fell kindly for him to slot home with a follow-up shot.

Kearney then saved from Danny Davidson and Phil Lindley saw another Ossett effort cleared off the line as Blues began to loose their way.

On another day Steve Howson would have been awarded a penalty but appeals for a spot kick after he had been clearly brought down by Bennett just inside the box were waived away by the referee.

Eight minutes from time, Dave Tickle and Brannan combined to set up Nagington but once again his angled drive was beaten out by the keeper.

Ossett: Bennett, Briggs, Riordan, Marchant, Lindley, Wheeler, Rickers, Savoury, Hayward, Davidson, O’Brian. Subs: Pugh, Fothergill, Ryan

Leek: Kearney, Smith, Tickle, Devlin, P Booth, Barrow, Danylyk, MacPherson, Nagington, Eldershaw, Proffitt. Subs: Hawthorne, Brannan, Howson, ,

Att: 144