In a dismal afternoon all round, Ash Jackson had to be substituted in the first half having suffered a serious knee injury and Tom Lowe was shown a straight red card in stoppage time having only been on the field less than two minutes.

There was little to choose between the sides in the opening half, Tim Grice looked Leek's biggest threat and he almost got beyond the keeper in the 10th minute but he managed to grab the ball off his feet whilst on the ground.

Four minutes later Blues had an escape when Ryan Dicker cleared off the line and Grice then had another chance which forced good low save out of Liam Roberts in the Gresley goal.

With the half about to come to a close, the home side took the lead when Kieran O'Connell fired home the loose ball in the box.

Leek offered little attacking threat in the second half and the Moatmen doubled their advantage on the hour. Alex Steadman's run into the box was halted but the ball fell to Luke Edwards who scored with a curling effort from 18 yards into the bottom corner of the net.

Gresley really should have added to their tally two minutes later when John Guy headed just over the bar from close range.

Late on Ben Chapman pulled off a good save from Alex Steadman's header and Karl Espley cleared another chance off the line.

Lowe came on in stoppage time but was swiftly dismissed for a bad challenge on O'Connell leaving Blues fans to contemplate their sides second defeat in four days.

Team: Chapman, Thompson, Jackson (Donnelly, 37), Hall, Dicker, Chadwick (Kinsella, 63), Danylyk, Shelley, Grice, Shotton, Espley (Lowe, 90)

Red Card: Lowe

Attendance: 318

View the match photos here.