MANarama National League North
Phillips 66 Community Stadium
Saturday 12th October 2019

Paul Holleran remained upbeat despite his Leamington side slipping to a third consecutive league defeat on their own turf.

There was a marked upturn in the level of performance over the whole 90 minutes but Brakes were simply unable to break down an Alfreton side who executed their game plan to perfection.

There were four changes to the eleven which started the Darlington game the previous Saturday, the cup tied Steph Morley, Joe Clarke returning from suspension and loanee George Carline on his return to the club, while Coventry City youngster Dexter Walters made his full debut.

Meanwhile only David Lynch, Danny Clarke and Declan Bacon remained from the Alfreton squad who Brakes had faced back in April, highlighting the extent of Billy Heath’s restructuring over the summer which had seen his team make a much brighter start to the current campaign.

The standout moment of the game arrived with eight uneventful minutes played, Bobby Johnson scoring a sublime goal completely out of context with what preceded and followed it. The visitors number eleven took a touch just outside the box before dispatching a stunning dipping volley powerfully over a helpless Jake Weaver into the net.

There were practically no other opportunities of any merit to speak of in the first half for either side after this. The game was littered with stoppages, referee Michael Barlow awarding over twenty free kicks before half time and booking four visiting players, one of whom, skipper Lynch, was forced off injured shortly after making his challenge and was subsequently taken to Warwick Hospital.

Leamington responded well to going behind so early on and did not let their heads drop, but they couldn’t manage to take advantage of the plethora of dead ball opportunities they were presented with.

Walters began to see more of the ball in the second half and it soon became evident that with his pace and quick feet he was posing a problem for the Alfreton defence, to the extent that they eventually put two defenders on him in an attempt to cut off his creativity.

Jack Edwards controlled a ball to the edge of the visitors’ penalty area and spread the play out to the left where Walters sent a dangerous low cross to the far post that just evaded Kaiman Anderson and Josh March.

Great vision from March saw him send a lovely ball out to Walters, who this time cut inside before unleashing a powerful shot that was beaten away by Alfreton’s young loan keeper Charlie Andrew.

The Sky Blues loan man was really making an impact now, creating a buzz among the home support whenever he received the ball, and a mazy run ended with another low delivery that was just begging to be put into the back of the net but was unfortunately not anticipated by any of his team mates.

This did not deter Walters however and his mesmerising footwork tied two Alfreton defenders in knots before his shot cannoned off the head of Ryan Qualter and looped just past the post.

Edwards headed Clarke’s free kick straight into the arms of Andrew, while Carline’s shot struck his team mate before he delivered a cross with his next attempt, Qualter’s timely intervention preventing Junior English from a potential shot at goal. From the resulting corner an almighty scramble ensued in the Alfreton box before the visitors somehow managed to dig the ball out and clear.

Amari Morgan-Smith had two opportunities in quick succession to seal the game for Alfreton, shooting straight at Weaver with the first and then forcing a strong one handed save from the goalkeeper with his second effort, the on loan Birmingham City man scrambling across to claim the ball at the second attempt.

Howls of frustration erupted from the Harbury Lane End as English appeared to be hauled to the ground by his neck as Leamington desperately searched for a late equaliser. The Referee left both sets of fans scratching their heads over the course of the afternoon with some of his decision making, but while the visiting contingent were bemoaning first half decisions it was the home support who were left bemused in the second.

With five minutes of added time almost elapsed there was one final chance for Leamington, the ball dropping to March inside the penalty area, but almost as if to sum up Brakes’ fortunes at present, the ball ballooned off his right boot and high over the roof of the terrace.

Paul Holleran’s aftermatch reaction

‘It’s disappointing obviously because it’s probably been a similar pattern to the last couple of home games. It’s frustrating but that was probably our best performance out of the last two or three, and at the moment the results are going the other way.

‘Every game is different. Billy Heath has had a lot of success at different clubs. He builds big, strong, experienced sides who know what to do and how to manage games, and when they go one nil up and they’re playing up the slope here they will do what they have to do to get you out of your rhythm and make it difficult for you, and you’ve got to say that from the amount of balls we’ve put into the box and the amount of crosses we put in, they’ve defended fantastically. From our point of view there was a couple especially that you’re thinking can we get on the end of that, but in terms of our levels, in terms of our play, in terms of chances created, play in the final third, I think against a good side we couldn’t have done much more. The performance was a notch up, it’s helped having Steph Morley back in, it’s helped having George Carline back here; obviously we’ve had a good look at Dexter today, he adds a different dimension, and the performance levels throughout the team were very good. If we keep those performance levels there then all of a sudden I’m sure that these 1-0 defeats will start to turn the other way.

‘When you have a game of that magnitude and you can see that both sets of players have put everything into that game - it might have lacked a bit of quality now and then but you can’t question the application or the desire of both sets of players. It’s always disappointing to lose those sort of games because you’ve gone toe to toe all over the pitch, and we’ve come out the wrong side of a wonder goal. But that’s this league, that’s where it is, and it’s important as a group that we hold our nerve, get back on the training pitch and work hard, and if the players keep those levels where they are at the moment I am quietly confident. We’ve got as strong a group as we’ve had for a while, I’m really optimistic about moving forward into the winter months - I think we’re going to be fine, I really do. There were lots of good performances today. Even the ones that don’t look pleasing on the eye….. With Hoody and Mace…. You know, with Amari Morgan-Smith and Danny Clarke, that’s a ferocious front two, and we’ve dealt with a lot of it, so there were lots of plusses - I’m not sure either side deserved to win or lose it, but that’s football.

‘We needed a little bit of a shake, one or two coming in and out, just to freshen things up a little bit, and you can see the result of that. We’ve just got to keep working really hard, we know what this league is about, and as I said, I am sure that these results will start turning around.’

Attendance: 521

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Junior English, Stephan Morley (12 Jack Lane, 65), Joe Clarke (15 Kieran Dunbar, 88), Jamie Hood ©, James Mace, Kaiman Anderson, George Carline, Josh March, Jack Edwards, Dexter Walters.

Subs not used: 13 Ben Newey, 14 Callum Gittings, 16 Connor Taylor.

Alfreton Town: Charlie Andrews, Josh Clackstone, Daniel East, David Lynch © (14 Nyall Blake, 12), Dominic Smith, Ryan Qualter, Josh Thacker, Conor Branson, Danny Clarke, Amari Morgan-Smith, Bobby Johnson.

Subs not used: 12 Declan Bacon, 13 Jack Atkinson, 15 Jake Bennett, 16 Harvey Grive.

Referee: Mr Michael Barlow

Assistant Referees: Mr Jake Topp & Mr Oli Noonan

Brakes Man of the Match: Dexter Walters.