Charlton made his debut against Leek back in October after signing from Stone Dominoes, and the Blues must be getting sick of the sight of him as his brace made up for the loss of suspended leading scorer Dave Walker.

Ward said: "Karl has been a revelation since he came here.

"He is very mobile and makes good runs into the box, and that's how he got his goals against Leek.

"Liam Shotton was also superb and caused them lots of problems."

Despite their lowly league position fifth from the bottom of the Division One South, it was Leek who started the brightest.

They were unlucky not to take the lead on nine minutes when Leon Ashman found Jamie Haynes unmarked on the edge of the Grove box, but his superb curled effort came back off the crossbar.

However, their early dominance was rewarded with a goal two minutes later. Mark Ruddock found Paul Taylor on the edge of the Grove penalty area and he fired low into the net.

The lead could have been doubled on 24 minutes when Anthony Malbon's long-range drive was bravely blocked by Grove keeper Nick Ward.

The home side were struggling to create clear-cut chances, but grabbed an equaliser two minutes later in spectacular fashion.

An Adam Beasley ball into the Leek penalty area was cleared only as far as Aiden Matranga, who sweetly-struck volley soared into the top right corner of the net.

Grove improved as the half wore on, and could have lead just before the half-hour mark when Danny Smith's close-range effort was blocked by Leek keeper Stuart Heeps.

Matt Haddrell almost grabbed his first goal since returning to Kidsgrove on 36 minutes, but his header from Tom Urwin's cross was clawed away superbly by Heeps.

But it took Grove just 60 seconds of the second half to take the lead when a Shotton cross was slammed high into the net by Charlton.

Leek thought they had equalised on 54 minutes when Grove keeper Steve Intihar's poor clearance fell to Malbon.

The ex-Vale striker chipped the ball just past the halfway line, but looked on in disbelief as his shot came back off the bar-post angle before hitting the foot of the opposite post and then stopping on the line, from where Danny Smith cleared.

Grove grabbed their third with 20 minutes remaining, Charlton firing home from close range after a Matranga shot had been cleared off the Leek line by Carl Allen.

However, Leek refused to lie down, and pulled a goal back two minutes later when Taylor grabbed his second with a superb, curling free-kick which gave Intihar no chance.

They could have claimed an equaliser with a minute remaining when the ball fell to Devon Gibson on the edge of the Grove box, but he fired well wide.

Despite the loss, Leek boss Neil Cox was full of praise for his side's efforts.

"I thought we played really well and probably should have taken a point out of the game," he said. "The chances where we have hit the bar and post are the ones that don't go for you when you are struggling.

"But I have no doubt we will be fine if we carry on playing like that."

Victory leaves Kidsgrove in fourth place on 33 points and aiming to carry on their good form at mid-table Glapwell today, while Leek play Rushall Olympic at Harrison Park.

Kidsgrove: Intihar, Smith, Dove, Ward, Schwarz, Beasley, Matranga, Charlton (Hall, 80), Shotton, Haddrell (Sanders, 83), Urwin. Not used: Morris, Harper, Wayne Johnson.

Leek Town: Heeps, Andy Taylor, Paul Taylor, Matt Johnson (Gibson 80), Ruddock, Allen, Corden, Millar, Ashman, Malbon, Haynes (Cope 86). Not used: Bradbury, Rutter, Miller.