Report

Vanarama National League North
Phillips 66 Community Stadium
Thursday 26th December 2019

Brakes quickly bounced back from defeat at Farsley Celtic to record a comfortable victory over Gloucester City in the first of their festive fixtures, but they were made to work right to the final whistle by their visitors in the first meeting between the two sides for five years.

Now managed by former Brakes striker James Rowe, who was absent due to a family commitment, former skipper Liam Daly also returned with the visitors, who had enjoyed a fairly steady return to the National League North after two seasons in the South.

Paul Holleran made just one change to his starting eleven as he replaced Kaiman Anderson with Dexter Walters, and his side were first to settle into their rhythm against a visiting side who were understandably a little ring rusty having been without a game since December 7.

Consecutive corners failed to pose the Tigers defence any problems and it was the visitors who forged the first chance of the afternoon for either side when Joe Hanks picked up a half cleared free kick in a good position before driving a shot high and wide of the target.

Daly made 183 appearances for Leamington in four seasons at the club but he was the villain of the piece as he collected the first booking of the game, hauling down Walters as he looked to benefit from Spencer Hamilton inadvertently knocking Jake Weaver’s long throw on into space down the left wing.

Brakes failed to trouble Gloucester from the free kick but the visitors broke quickly, forcing a corner from which the tireless Marlon Jackson rose just ahead of Weaver to glance a header onto the roof of the net. However, Leamington were ahead in their next attack, George Carline keeping the ball alive down the right before feeding Josh March to set up Jack Edwards with an inviting low centre which the captain slammed first time into the net.

The visitors came close again when good hold up play by Jackson on the edge of the box saw him play in Fabian Robert, who forced Weaver into a smart save with his legs as he tried to lift the ball over him.

March had enjoyed an interesting tussle with Daly but just prior to the half hour he made his mark on the game when he was afforded too much space in a central position some 20 yards from goal, and thundered a stunning drive past a wrong footed Maher to double Leamington’s lead.

Zac Kotwica fired straight at Weaver after neatly creating space for himself just inside the box but Leamington went close twice more before the break, firstly when some good build up play saw Callum Maycock play in March, but his close range effort was saved by Maher.

Maycock then decided to take matters into his own hands and set off on a driving run in from the right, steaming past challenges and exchanging passes with Edwards before charging into the box but unfortunately with just Maher to beat he blazed his shot over the bar, much to his frustration.

There was still time for Edwards to set up March with a quick ball into the penalty area that took the striker so much by surprise that his first touch allowed Maher to claim.

Gloucester were more competitive in the second half and made Leamington work hard to preserve their advantage. Breaking quickly after Carline’s shot had deflected into the arms of Maher, his opposite number Weaver was forced shovel a low cross away from danger at his near post.

Hanks came mightily close for Gloucester when he struck a venomous free kick from distance that clipped the top of the bar, but Leamington were still carving out chances of their own and March came close again when Callum Gittings broke up the right and switched the ball inside, the striker side stepping Daly before forcing a good block from Maher.

Inside the last ten minutes some concerted pressure from the visitors ended with Hanks firing high and wide, and their miserable afternoon was complete when Kieran Dunbar added a third a minute from time with his first touch after replacing March. A fine flick from Carline played him into the box and the substitute poked past the onrushing Maher to score his first goal of the season.

Manager’s Reaction

‘I think they’re a project just beginning, Gloucester; you can see some of the signings they’ve made, they’ve got a new manager in and it looks like they’ll be going back to their old ground which will be great for them. Perhaps the fact that they hadn’t played for a few weeks maybe hindered them a little but you can’t take too much away from us because in the first forty five minutes it was Telford-esque again. We were really on the front foot, showed lots of quality, mixed things up a lot, scored some good goals and could have scored more. At this time of year, with tough travel last Saturday and the pitches the way they are, it really was a good performance.

‘You always felt Gloucester would have a spell in the game. They were certainly more competitive in the second half and we had to dig deep at times to keep the clean sheet intact. The third goal was always going to be massive. We felt that as they brought more players into play we might be able to spin them around and get some more chances. It didn’t quite happen like that but we’ve got another good goal at the end with George’s flick and Kieran’s finish.

‘The only times we have dropped points recently is when it has been out of our hands. We’ve had a decision go against us here against Guiseley and then we’ve had a couple of bizarre decisions up at Farsley on Saturday, but this little spell of games has been as good as I can remember in my time here. All the way through the team there’s been a lot of sevens and eights out of ten, we’re scoring goals, keeping clean sheets in a really difficult league. It’s a time to enjoy at the moment because it can be really difficult to do that in this league.’

Attendance: 535

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Junior English, Stephan Morley, Callum Maycock (12 Joe Clarke, 86), James Mace, Jack Lane, George Carline, Callum Gittings, Josh March (14 Kieran Dunbar, 87), Jack Edwards ©, Dexter Walters (15 Jordan Murphy, 76).

Subs not used: 16 Josh Martin, 17 Kaiman Anderson.

Gloucester City: Niall Maher, Spencer Hamilton, Jack Senior, Liam Daly, Sam Avery, Josh Thomas, Joe Parker (12 Daniel Sweeney, 75), Joe Hanks, Marlon Jackson, Fabian Robert (14 Jennison Myrie-Williams, 64), Zac Kotwica.

Subs not used: 15 Jack James, 16 Cameron Ebutt, 17 Alex Hainult.

Referee: Mr Matt Corlett

Assistant Referees: Mr Mark Billingham & Mr Daniel Robinson

Brakes Man of the Match: Jack Edwards.