FC United won 2-0 at Leek Town on Saturday afternoon with goals from Carlos Roca and Michael Norton.
In a classic game of two halves, it was the home side that looked the more positive and dangerous to begin with before United showed their clinical side in the final half an hour to take their third victory of the week.
The first action of the game came on eight minutes when a cross from the left was headed onto the bar and over by Devon Gibson. The Australian should have scored a minute later when FC United goalkeeper James Spencer struggled with a cross from the right, the ball dropping to the Leek right winger but he put his shot wide.
FC United did slowly get into the game but their final ball was letting them down. The Reds’ only real chance of the half came on 11 minutes when a poor back pass let in Scott Metcalfe but he snatched at his shot and the ball went wide. Spencer was called into action on the quarter of an hour mark when he tipped over a shot from Oliver Edwards. The rest of the half was a fairly scrappy with both sides pretty much cancelling each other out.
The second half started with the same XI for FC United as the first but within a few minutes, manager Karl Marginson made numerous changes and this brought more pace into the side and gradually the Reds took hold of the game. Ten minutes in and a quick break saw Adam Edwards put in a dangerous cross that was blocked and a couple of minutes later, Jake Cottrell fired over.
On the hour mark, FC United took the lead when a superb cross from Lee Neville was met decisively by Norton whose header flew into the back of the net. The lead was almost doubled after a superb flowing move a few minutes later but Neville fired his shot wide.
On 67 minutes, Edwards, looking dangerous when he had the ball at his feet, fired in a shot that was well saved by Danny Roberts in the home goal, but it did look only a matter of time before lead was doubled.
The second goal came with little over ten minutes to go. A James Holden ball into the box was flicked on by Norton to Jacobs who crossed for Roca who couldn’t miss, side footing the ball into the roof of the net. Roca should have scored again a few mins later when he was played through, but he rolled the ball wide. The winger was looking very dangerous and late in the game produced a great cross that Norton headed just wide.
This was a good run out for FC United, given the goal fests of the previous games in the week, with Leek offering a sterner test, especially in the first half, as Margy and his team continue their preparation for the start of the season in a couple of weeks time.
Report by Steven Wood