Trophy hunters rocked by break

Leek Town manager Lee Casswell has put his Evo-Stik Northern Premier League side’s run in the FA Trophy to one side to wish Matt Bradbury a speedy recovery after the big defender suffered a double break on Saturday.

While the First Division South leaders were booking what turned out to be a home tie in the competition’s second round later this month against Southern League Hungerford with a 2-1 win at Conference North Altrincham on Saturday, Bradbury was seriously injury playing under dual registration for Eccleshall against Formby in the North West Counties Football League on Saturday.

The game was abandoned early in the opening half when the 33-year-old broke his fibia and tibia as well as dislocating his ankle. Bradbury, who’s enjoyed a number of spells at Harrison Park and has also been on the books at Newcastle Town, Market Drayton Town and Stone Dominoes - required surgery on Sunday morning.

Casswell said: "I’m absolutely gutted for the lad and we all at Leek Town wish him all the best for a speedy recovery. Matt is an honest lad who has more than helped us out on many occasions even when it meant sitting on the bench."

The Blues manager, pictured, was delighted with his side’s performance at Altrincham that earned the club another £5000 in prize money alone after their run of victories over Evesham, Witton and Brackley in the competition before the weekend.

The Blues return to league action at Sheffield on Saturday and he declared: "The win means so much to everyone at the club – it’s been a great season so far, we are top of the league table and going strong in the Trophy. I’m proud at what we’ve achieved – it’s been good for the players, the Directors, the supporters and everyone else at the club.

"It’s been a crazy week beating Conference North high-flyers Brackley and Altrincham within the space of five days - it still hasn’t sunk in. The game at Altrincham was a massive one for us although we didn’t reach the heights expected in the opening half. However, we had a chat during the break and upped our game in the second half and I thought we deserved our victory on that second half performance."

He added: "We have some good footballers in our squad and they showed they could stand toe-to-toe with big clubs playing at two levels higher than ourselves."