Pre Season Friendly
The Community Stadium
Tuesday 18th August 2020

New Leamington number nine Lance Smith scored within fifteen minutes of his introduction as Paul Holleran’s side began their preparations for the 2020/21 season against closest neighbours Racing Club Warwick.

The visitors were already four games into their preparations for the delayed new season, and while they were hard working and eager to impress they never fully extended Jake Weaver seriously. Brakes were understandably ring rusty but were still able to create some good opportunities, some of which with a little more sharpness, they probably would have taken.

A strange quirk of this opening match was that Warwick took the home dugout, while pre match and half time team talks took place on the pitch and in the main stand.

The first chance fell to Jack Edwards with five minutes played. Dan Meredith found him in plenty of room inside the penalty area but he snatched at a first time shot and the ball dribbled harmlessly wide. Kaiman Anderson, looking for the head of Joe Parker, curled his cross high and wide.

Racing Club then had two efforts in a matter of seconds, Eddie Antonio cutting in from the right and forcing a save from Jake Weaver with a well struck low drive. Tom Smith then set himself from a similar position, finding the target but without the power.

After a quiet spell Sam Jackson stung Weaver’s palms with a fierce drive from just outside the box on the left. Play switched straight to the other end and Meredith found Anderson with a perfect centre from the right, but an acrobatic first time volley was straight at keeper Josh Pyott.

Shortly before the first drinks break of the evening Steph Morley rattled a powerful free kick into the empty Harbury Lane End from a promising position.

Connor Taylor forced a good save from Pyott with a low curling strike that looked destined for the bottom corner, and after a break in play which saw Racers captain Mason Rowley replaced Meredith found Anderson once more with another good cross, but his header only found the terrace, and half time arrived with the game goalless.

Brakes made four changes at half time and quickly forged the first opening of the second half, Edwards looking ruefully down at the turf as he skied a first time effort into the field behind the North Bank.

Anderson was on target with a first time volley as Leamington pushed forward once more, and was unfortunate to see it strike a defender as it would surely have worked the goalkeeper at the very least.

The first trialist on show from the substitutes bench warmed the palms of Racers keeper Pyott with a well struck rising drive from out on the left, but Edwards’ radar was well and truly off beam as he passed up another opportunity to open the scoring, directing a close range header from a fine right wing cross the wrong side of the far post.

Joe Parker then came as close as anyone to breaking the deadlock when he was played through to the edge of the box by a trialist, and although he initially lost his footing he was able to turn his marker and curl in a shot that struck the outside of the far post.

After another drinks break after which Racing Club introduced all their remaining substitutes, the visitors were first to threaten, Riley Keasey firing a decent effort straight at Weaver, while a Warwick attacker looked to have been played through from a ball over the top only for Kyle Morrison to keep pace before calmly taking the ball from his opponent on the edge of the box and playing it away from danger - an impressive piece of play from the new centre back.

Luke Rowe went into the Referees notebook after needlessly hauling back Lance Smith as the Leamington substitute looked to motor forward from halfway, before two of the Brakes trialists combined, a shot flying over the bar from a good position.

With five minutes remaining the stalemate was broken, Kieran Dunbar getting the better of his man down the right before hitting the touchline and delivering the ball low to the far post where the predatory Smith leathered it first time into the roof of the net.

The game became a little stretched for the first time in the closing stages, and Dunbar looked to have played a trialist in with a clipped ball over a defender, but the shot was deflected behind for a corner.

A Racing Club shot sailed into the car park behind the clubhouse with the final kick of the game as Leamington kicked off their pre season with a slender hard earned win.

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Junior English (16 Josh Martin, 46), Stephan Morley, Callum Gittings (17 Joe Clarke, 46), Kyle Morrison, Jack Lane, Dan Meredith (15 Kieran Dunbar, 46), Jack Edwards © (12 Lance Smith, 72), Connor Taylor (14 Trialist A, 46), Joe Parker (19 Trialist C, 77) Kaiman Anderson (18 Trialist B, 60).

Racing Club Warwick: Josh Pyott, Callum Maspers, Jamie Hall, Fortune Mosharpa, Mason Rowley ©, Riley Keasey, Eddie Antonio, Luke Rowe, Tory ??, Tom Smith, Sam Jackson.

Attendance: Some rats, a few birds and a cat.