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Anniversaries and coincidence at Leek

It was an evening of anniversaries and coincidence at Leek. From an FC United point of view it was the tenth anniversary of our first ever competitive fixture. For Leek CSOB it was a chance to honour ten years of service for Mark Fox who played in that match. It is also their 70th anniversary, they are marking this with a return to their original colours of amber and black for home games. The kit made its debut tonight. The coincidence came with the final score, the home side this time, being on the right end of a 5-2 result.

Before the match started, FC United board members Alison Watt and Tom Stott presented Mark Fox with a framed FC shirt from our very first season. The shirt and frame were donated by FC United member Simon Howarth.

Leek CSOB had much the better of early exchanges and had the ball in the FC United net after seven minutes, this effort ruled to be offside. It was only a brief respite as Drew Bennett scored from a corner in the 21st minute. Mark Fox drew a smart save from another corner soon after. The best FC United chance of the first half came on 34 minutes. Dean Hope played a ball in to the penalty area which was inches short of the head of Keenan Tuck and also just wide of the far post.

The reds found a way back in to the game on 55 minutes when Jake Shawcross played the ball between the Leek back line for Connor Martin to run on to and slot home. Leek restored the lead five minutes later when Mitch Cartlidge prodded in a cross from Fox.

On 69 minutes Hope exchanged passes with Darius Palma before firing home to make it 2-2 and five minutes later Fox got his name on the score sheet from the penalty spot. Leek CSOB scored two more in the last five minutes to bring the first ten years of FC United to a close in an interesting if slightly ironic manner.

On the balance of play Leek CSOB were good value for their win and the football was pleasing to watch for most observers. We wish them well for their season and look forward to the 20th anniversary celebrations.


First Posted ~ 09:25 Fri 14 Aug 2015
News ID ~ 6320
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021