Blues tribute to milestone vet

Leek Town have congratulated their veteran midfielder Anthony Danylyk on making his 250th appearance for the Blues ahead of their Boxing meeting with Newcastle Town at Harrison Park.

The Blues veteran became only the 15th player to reach the club milestone in the 3-3 draw at Kidsgrove Athletic in Evo-Stik NPL First Division South last Saturday.

Danylyk has had four spells with the club, scoring 23 goals since making his debut in 2002 after moving from Stones Dominoes. He spent most of the next six seasons at Harrison Park with the exception of 2004-05 campaign when he played at Belper Town and enjoyed a brief stint at Witton Albion.

His contribution to the club was recognised in both the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 seasons when he was named Supporters’ Player of the Year. In 2007-08 he also won the Manager’s and Player’s Player of the Season awards.

In June 2008 he joined Conference side Altrincham where he remained until December 2011 making 151 appearances, many as skipper, before returning to Harrison Park.

A Leek spokesman said: "Everyone at the club wishes to congratulate him on reaching this memorable milestone."

In player news, manager Lee Casswell moved to sign former Blues’ player Steve Brannan as cover in the squad with influential defender George Melling expected to be unavailable until the middle of January due to work commitments.

Brannan, a no-nonsense midfielder, originally signed for Leek in October 2006 from Hednesford Town. He went on to complete 134 appearances and score 12 times. He returns for the third time after spells with Stafford Rangers, Biddulph Victoria and Kidsgrove Athletic.

Casswell has also released midfielder Ross Davidson, 22, who has switched to join Evo-Stik NPL First Division North outfit New Mills for work and family reasons. He made 16 appearances, scoring one goal in eight starts.