Stamford postponement adds to fixture pile-up

Leek Town’s already congested fixture list suffered a further set-back on Saturday following the postponement of their home game against play-off challengers Stamford.

Blues’ arranged an early morning inspection of the Harrison Park pitch which was still frozen under a three-inch carpet of snow and ice leaving the referee with no option but to call the game off.

The game has been rearranged for Tuesday 20 March leaving Blues with 8 games to play during the month.

Lee Casswell’s men have only managed to play 6 of their last 15 fixtures and now face a minimum backlog of 18 games in the final 10 weeks of the season.

Blues are pushing hard for a place in the play-offs in May, but they may well be foiled in their efforts by a punishing run-in to the end of the season due to the arctic conditions gripping the country in recent weeks.

Following three postponements during December, Leek have managed just three games since the turn of the year and also had their Staffordshire Senior Cup Quarter Final tie at Kidsgrove abandoned after just 35 minutes.

Casswell and his management team have struggled to secure training facilities in the absence of games and recently had to book into the gym and the local sports hall to keep fitness levels up.

The Blues’ boss is now hoping that their next scheduled game at Lincoln on Saturday will go ahead as planed as temperatures are expected to rise and stay above freezing as the week progresses.

However, whatever happens with this season’s pile-up, it couldn’t possibly match Leek’s horrendous run-in to the end of their first season in the Conference in 1998 when, in order to survive in the top tier of non-league football, Blues were forced to complete 6 games in the last 8 days.

Speaking on Saturday after the game had been called off, Leek Chairman Andy Wain said, “We are frustrated at yet another game being called off due to the weather.

“These postponements affect the day to day running of the club financially but we planned ahead for the cold spell and we are managing to keep our heads above water.

“At a meeting with the management team last week, we re-affirmed our determination to make a push for the play-offs despite the postponements and feel we can do it with the squad we’ve put together.

“With home games coming thick and fast in the next two months, there is a great deal of pressure on fans who have to cough up at the turnstiles during the economic down-turn but, if they can stay with us, then together we can achieve our goals”, he added.

Coming up
Leek are next in action at Lincoln United on Saturday and supporters wishing to travel on the team coach should ring 386356 for further details.

The Whites are currently 16th in the league table with 27 points from 32 games leaving them 7 places and 10 points below Leek who have two games in hand.

Lincoln’s form makes grim reading. They are the draw specialists of the division with 11 to their name but more worryingly for manager Terry Fleming, they have won just 1of their last 13 games and only tasted victory at home once this term and that was way back in October.

Blues will therefore be looking to complete the double over the Whites after winning at home on 10 January when a Matt Haddrell penalty was all that separated the two sides.

Haddrell commits
Leek Town manager Lee Casswell has revealed that leading scorer Matt Haddrell has signed an 18-month contract committing him to the club until the end of next season.

Although the current season is still very much alive, Casswell is already planning for next season and took time out from a congested schedule last week to secure the burly striker’s signature.

Haddrell returned to Harrison Park last summer from Kidsgrove Athletic having previously joined Leek in 2004 making over 60 appearances mainly as a central defender.

He then had spells with Congleton Town and Kidsgrove where he was successfully converted to a striker scoring 25 goals in the 2009/10 season.

Haddrell began his career at Newcastle Town, before moving on to Vauxhall Motors and having a short spell as a professional at Macclesfield Town.

This season Haddrell is topping Blues’ goalscoring charts with 20 strikes (incl 4 penalties) from 31 appearances and had another ruled out when the Senior Cup game at Kidsgrove on 31 January was abandoned after he put his side in front.

Casswell is delighted to have signed the powerful front runner, saying, “Matt was happy to sign and I am delighted he is staying with us.

“He is probably the best in the league at what he does, but we are not stopping there as we plan for next season.

“I am now in talks with another of our players and I’ll be sitting down with others over the next few weeks.

“But we wont be paying out silly money, the players know we have to keep within the budget - the club has looked after them despite the lack of revenue into the club during the cold weather.

“However, we are not taking our eye off the ball because our main priority now is to make sure we get into the play off zone

“I know we have a very congested fixture list but we have a good squad capable of taking us through to the end of the season and hopefully we will be contending for one of the promotion places”, he added.

More player news
On loan defender George Ray’s current deal at Harrison Park ends on 13 February but Blues’ boss Lee Casswell has struck a deal with Crewe Alexandra to extend the loan period for a further two months.

Ray is a tall central defender in the first year of a professional contract at Gresty Road having progressed through the NPower League Two outfit’s famed academy.

He joined Leek initially on a one-month deal in January but, due to the bad weather, he has played only two games and also started in the abandoned Senior Cup game at Kidsgrove at the end of last month.

Meanwhile, defender Nathan Bullock’s month-long loan on work experience terms with Leek has expired after he made just one appearance from the bench at Loughborough when he replaced the injured Ricky Bridge after just 9 minutes.

However, Casswell hopes to take a more detailed look at the Burton Albion youngster by signing him on another work experience deal until the end of the season.