Report

Emirates FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Phillips 66 Community Stadium
Saturday 21st Saturday 2019

There was almost an inevitability about the way Brakes self destructed in this game. There just seems to be something about the FA Cup that doesn’t agree. Twelve months earlier they had come from two goals down to level at Stourbridge only to fall to a late winner. Here they were two goals to the good against ten man visitors Chasetown only to spectacularly shoot themselves in the foot and gift the Scholars a route back into the game, which they gleefully accepted.

The Northern Premier League Division One South East outfit were regular opponents between 2005 and 2009, and ominously had won on every previous visit to Harbury Lane.

Without the on loan George Carline, Paul Holleran restored Cieron Keane to the starting eleven, With James Mace switching to right back and Jack Lane returning to central defence.

There was precious little of any interest to report on in the opening fifteen minutes but the game exploded into life briefly on sixteen when Leamington broke into the visitors penalty area, Josh March and Kaiman Anderson both sent tumbling to the deck. The upshot was that Referee Dean Simpson awarded a penalty and booked Scholars keeper Curtis Pond. Josh March stepped up and although the keeper guessed correctly, the spot kick arrowed powerfully past him into the net.

The goalkeeper saved with his legs from Anderson’s shot before the game took a further twist with just over 25 minutes played. Alex Melbourne shown a straight red card after a tough looking challenge on Callum Gittings in front of the main stand. the Chasetown player insisting he had won the ball but the Referee intimating he had done so with his studs showing.

Brakes failed to press home their numerical advantage immediately however, Jack Edwards and substitute Gift Mussa coming close with low strikes just past the post.

March curled a shot wide from the edge of the box early in the second half as all the chances continued to come at one end. A superb first time ball in from the left by Cieron Keane was met by Edwards, who headed back across goal and just over the bar.

A neat move then saw Jack Lane carry the ball over the halfway line, finding Edwards who then flicked it on for March just outside the box, only for Pond to produce a fantastic one handed save. The goalkeeper was beaten again on 56 minutes however when Edwards nodded down a free kick for March to skillfully knock the ball under the advancing Pond as he tried to narrow the angles.

Chasetown substitute Danny Cocks made an impact just two minutes after coming on, inviting what was really an unnecessary challenge from Mussa as he charged into the penalty area on the left. A penalty was the verdict and George Cater slammed Chasetown’s first shot of the afternoon past Jake Weaver to halve the deficit.

A bizarre series of ricochets inside the Chasetown penalty area ended with Anderson flicking a shot just wide, but Leamington were stunned with just over twenty minutes remaining as the visitors hauled themselves level from their second corner of the game, skipper Ryan Wynter rising unchallenged to glance a header into the far corner to the delight of the travelling support on the North Bank.

Pond came to his sides’ rescue again when he went in with March for an inviting low ball in from Dunbar, getting there first to clear the danger. March then saw another effort saved before Brakes momentarily believed they had scored a winner when James Mace thumped in a close range header from a right wing corner, only to be denied by an offside flag.

It looked increasingly apparent that it was not going to be Leamington’s day as they were denied once more - March doing superbly to hook the ball back into play from the touchline by the near post, substitute Ravi Shamsi driving it back into the penalty area only for Will Whieldon to block a thunderous effort from Dunbar on the line after Edwards’ initial shot had been blocked.

Lewis Riley-Stewart then got in a fine interception to divert Edwards’ powerful header behind from Shamsi’s cross, before heading over the bar himself at the other end as Chasetown sensed a winner.

Shamsi saw a crashing effort kept out by yet another flying save from Pond at his near post, before the Leamington man directed Keane’s cross straight at the goalkeeper. Jack Lane saw his header from another set piece held comfortably by the goalkeeper before the final whistle. Visiting players and fans understandably celebrated their fine comeback, and both teams remain in the draw for the third qualifying round, but Brakes will be kicking themselves for failing to manage the game when in such a position of strength.

Attendance: 395

Leamington: Jake Weaver, James Mace, Cieron Keane, Joe Clarke, Jamie Hood ©, Jack Lane, Kieran Dunbar, Callum Gittings (14 Gift Mussa, 30), Josh March, Jack Edwards, Kaiman Anderson (12 Ravi Shamsi, 65).

Subs not used: 13 Ben Newey, 15 Connor Taylor, 16 Junior English, 17 Tom James, 18 Martyn Naylor.

Chasetown: Curtis Pond, Alex Melbourne, Alex Curtis, Levi Reid (14 Danny Cocks, 59), Ryan Wynter, Lewis Riley-Stewart, George Cater, Jack Langston (15 Bradley Carr, 43), Liam Kirton, William Whieldon, Joseph Brown.

Subs not used: 12 Callum Lovatt, 16 Kieran Brown, GK Charlie Baker.

Referee: Mr Dean Simpson

Assistant Referees: Mr Matthew Young & Mr Joshua Hackett

Brakes Man of the Match: Gift Mussa.

Paul Holleran's Reaction

(On Callum Gittings’ injury) ‘It looks like impact bruising. It was a bit of a reckless challenge , but at the moment it looks like bruising at the bottom of the foot and the shin. It was disappointing but we’ll get some treatment into him. He certainly won’t be back for Tuesday. We’ll have to monitor that one and see how it goes.’

‘We were a bit nervy first half, we didn’t get any flow to it really. We got the goal, and then with the sending off…. Realistically we’re at home and you’d think we’d have enough about us to play with a little more control, but we didn’t. We had a good spell for fifteen to twenty minutes in the second half, got the second goal, and when you’re two nil up at home, against a team that’s down to ten men from a couple of divisions below you….. You’re looking at them and thinking, we’ll be alright here, we’ll do things properly, but we didn’t sadly. Fair play to them, they kept going and kept going, kept trying and working - I don’t think their management team could have asked for any more in the conditions. Their will and their leg work was fantastic, but we’ve had enough of the ball and enough chances to win the game, and we’ve let them back into it. We just needed a little bit of game management like last week but we’ve decided to go charging in in the box, I still don’t understand why…. And then one of the smallest players on the pitch wins a header in our box from a set piece and it’s 2-2 in the blink of an eye.

‘We’ve had some difficult days in the FA Cup in my time here and sometimes you half see it coming, but at two nil up at home with the way the game had panned out you thought we’ll go on here and get more, and do things properly and be ok, but we didn’t do things properly and they were good enough to punish us and you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for that. We’ve got to have a good look at ourselves though because we’ve been below par today, we’ve made poor decisions and for the second week running our finishing has been nowhere near where it needs to be. There’s no getting away from it, it’s been a disappointing afternoon for us.’

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