Leek beaten to Malbon signature

Leek Town were last week beaten to the signature of former striker Anthony Malbon who has opted to join Kidderminster Harriers from Newcastle Town.

Blues made a bid for the former Port Vale youngster shortly before Christmas in the face of stiff opposition from a number of other clubs and he was keen to return to Harrison Park until Kidderminster made him an offer he just couldn’t turn down.

Malbon signed an 18-month contract at Aggborough last Friday and was registered in time to make his debut at Alfreton on Saturday scoring in the 2-0 win.

In wishing the former Leek striker well, Blues’ Chairman Andrew Wain said, “We tabled an official offer for Malbon in the week before Christmas but we were not prepared to break the bank to sign the player - at the end of the day we have to look after the club’s finances.

“We congratulate Anthony on securing an 18-month deal with the Blue Square Bet Premier club and wish him well for the future”, he added.

Malbon originally joined Leek in February 2010 and went on to make 26 appearances in two spells scoring 12 goals.

The Harrison Park door was left open for him during last summer and indications then were that the prolific striker would take up the offer but he surprisingly joined Newcastle Town instead.

Player news
Leek Town central defender Nick Ward, who has been struggling with injury since re-joining the club from Kidsgrove in December, has been told by the Blues’ management team he has to improve on his fitness before being recalled into the squad.

Ward is now competing with Darren Tinson, Glyn Mellor, George Ray and Nathan Bullock as well as the versatile Aden Johnson for a central defensive birth and is now looking to regain match fitness with Staffs Senior League outfit Florence.

Striker Ross Farran has been released after just one appearance from the substitute’s bench. Blues’ boss Lee Casswell has let the former Nike Academy star go with Matt Haddrell, James McCarthy, Tim Grice and Dan Cope all before him now in the pecking order up front.

Meanwhile, Jordan White has been regaining match fitness with games at his former club Stone Dominos whilst Cope continued his rehabilitation on Saturday playing 80 minutes for Alsager Town scoring one of the goals in a 5-0 win and picking up the man of the match award.

Both players will train on Tuesday and Thursday ahead of the big game at home to league leaders Grantham on Saturday.

Injury news
Long term injury victims Danny Roberts (eye socket) and Richard Minor (knee) are both recovering well from surgery but Roberts is likely to be out for the remainder of the season whilst Minor hopes to start training in around six weeks time.

Meanwhile, defender Ricky Bridge is still struggling with a soft tissue injury to his lower leg and is undergoing treatment with the club’s physio

Leek Sports Council presentations
Leek Town Football club’s Blues Bar will host a presentation night to honour the area’s top sporting achievers and teams of 2011.

The Leek Sports Council is now inviting nominations for the annual Leek Sports awards and nomination forms can now be downloaded from the Council’s new website at www.leeksports.co.uk.

Nominations must be received by 22 February and the presentation evening will be staged at the club on Monday 19 March 2012.

They’re off
Leek Town FC is holding a Race Night which will be staged after the home game against Belper Town on Saturday 25th February at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend and admission is free, so please support the event. All money raised goes towards the running of the club and you might get lucky and win a few quid as well!