Vanarama National League North
The Brewery Field
Saturday 25th January 2020

Brakes returned from the first of three visits to the North East in four weeks empty handed as Spennymoor Town recorded a comfortable and deserved win in the third meeting between the two sides this season. Leamington had emerged victorious in the FA Trophy while the two sides fought out a draw earlier in the season in Warwickshire, but it was evident early on that it was going to be a big ask for them to take anything from this contest with Moors intent on reclaiming their spot in the play off places.

Paul Holleran made two changes to his starting eleven as he brought in Kieran Dunbar and new signing Joe Parker in place of Kaiman Anderson and Connor Taylor.

In terms of attacking play the first half was a very one sided affair. While Brakes enjoyed good spells with the ball they were rarely able to get past the edge of the Moors penalty area, all the action of note occurring at the other end.

Home keeper Matt Gould was a virtual bystander while his opposite number Jake Weaver was kept busy, first keeping out a low drive from James Roberts early on, before coming off his line to bravely block a shot from Shane Henry which spun behind for one of several first half corners.

David Bremang looked a little isolated and frustrated at times, and found his way into the Referee’s notebook after a harmless looking tussle with Moors skipper James Curtis, who moments earlier had clearly handled the ball before being awarded a free kick.

A free kick awarded just outside the Leamington area on the left was curled over the bar at the second attempt by Ben McKenna, while Callum Gittings’ challenge on the opposite side of the penalty area was sound but ran kindly for Roberts to hit first time towards goal but again straight at Weaver.

The home side took the lead on 33 minutes when Weaver pawed a cross from the right straight to McKenna in space on the left, who hit a tame shot back past him into the net. With what had gone before it was a frustratingly soft goal to concede, but the damage was done and Leamington had to compose themselves and carry on.

Two minutes later James Mace prevented what looked a certain second for Jason Ainsley’s men as he diverted Glen Taylor’s header over the bar right in front of goal. Rob Ramshaw got away from Gittings down the right and floated in an inviting cross which Taylor connected with well, and but for the intervention of Mace he may well have been celebrating his 19th goal of another prolific season.

The only shot of the half for Leamington came from the boot of Stephan Morley, a low drive from outside the box which was straight at Gould.

The start of the second half bought immediate improvement of sorts, Callum Maycock working Gould with a low shot from outside the box on the left. Jack Edwards went into the Referees’ notebook and he was followed just past the hour mark by Parker. There had not been a poor challenge in the game, and neither of these warranted what they received.

Holleran made a double substitution, throwing on Anderson and Taylor and the former turned to fire in a shot from the right that took a slight nick off Lewis Butroid before being held at the near post by Gould.

The frequency of Spennymoor’s chances was not as high in the second half but they always looked the more likely to score again, and with man of the match McKenna supplying the bullets with a cross like the one he sent in for Taylor to thump home an unstoppable header to make the points safe with eleven minutes remaining, the Moors will always be a threat going forward. Indeed, he almost set up a third when whipping in another inviting ball that was met by a powerful glancing header from Henry that whistled just over the bar.

There was a superb chance for Spennymoor to bag a third in added time when they broke two on one with Roberts up the right, who cut in and crossed low for Ramshaw for a tap in only for Weaver to make a superb save to deny him and then McKenna as he attempted to follow up.

Managers’ Reaction

‘I think we’ve made two poor decisions from a shape point of view, and we’ve been punished. We started the second half brightly but we didn’t kick on from there - if anything Spennymoor kicked on and they got on top of us.

‘Certainly in the second half they won more individual battles, every time we’ve got into the final third we’ve hit the wrong pass, and sadly we’ve looked a bit leggy second half. It looked quite promising for five or ten minutes but to be fair Spennymoor managed us well, they passed the ball better, they created more chances and they won every battle. They came out on top in every area of the pitch, so no complaints really.

‘When we’ve done well against Spennymoor in the past we’ve had to be very competitive. You’ve got to get on top of Taylor, Ramshaw, Henry, and we didn’t today. I think we need this bit of a breather this week now. We’ve got three more of these games coming up so we’ve got to recover and we’ve got to get right.’

Attendance: 1,003 (19 away)

Spennymoor Town: Matt Gould, Tyler Forbes (15 Mark Anderson, 65), Lewis Butroid, Carl Magnay, Nathan Buddle, James Curtis ©, James Roberts (16 Adam Boyes, 90+2), Shane Henry, Glen Taylor, Rob Ramshaw, Ben McKenna.

Subs not used: 12 Chris Mason, 14 Gavin Cogdon, 17 Andrew Johnson.

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Junior English, Stephan Morley, Callum Maycock, James Mace, Jack Lane, Kieran Dunbar (12 Kaiman Anderson, 67), Callum Gittings (14 Kyle McFarlane, 80), David Bremang (15 Connor Taylor, 67), Jack Edwards ©, Joe Parker.

Subs not used: 16 Josh Martin, 17 Tom James.

Referee: Mr J Westgate

Assistant Referees: Mr J Bancroft & Mr D Williams

Brakes Man of the Match: Jack Lane.