Vanarama National League North
The Citadel
Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Brakes battled and scrapped their way to a thoroughly deserved first point of the season up in Yorkshire as Jack Edwards stepped off the bench to smash home a late equaliser to deny Farsley Celtic their first win of the season.

The home side had taken an early lead but were second best for long spells in this game as Leamington got back into their rhythm after almost three and a half weeks without a game, keeping their dangerous attacking players quiet and chipping away at the home defence until they got their just reward at the death

Paul Holleran handed a first start of the season to Kaiman Anderson as he made two changes to the starting eleven from Brakes’ previous game at Chester back on October 10. Lance Smith also started, his first since arriving at the club in the close season from Hereford.

It was always going to be a tough task against a Farsley side looking for their first win of the campaign, and they found themselves behind with six minutes played from a contentious free kick award on the left edge of the penalty area.

Dave Syers certainly made the most of the contact, falling to the ground rather dramatically, but there was no question the resulting dead ball strike was of the highest quality, Jordan Richards bending a powerful effort beyond the diving Jake Weaver into the far corner to give the Celts an early advantage.

Aside from the goal the game was an end to end affair in the opening half an hour. Leamington were unable to trouble Steven Drench other than a free kick swung in to the Farsley keeper’s hands from Steph Morley, while the home side forced a couple of corners on the right which were capably dealt with by Jack Lane and Weaver, who also did well coming to the edge of his penalty area to dive at the feet of Ben Atkinson as he chased a through ball.

Leamington were arguably in the ascendancy as the half time whistle sounded, with Smith at the centre of their most promising moves. The striker was narrowly offside as he chased a ball over the top towards goal. He was constantly trying to bring his team mates into play and held the ball up well, setting up Simeon Maye for a shot inside the Celts’ area that was charged down, before doing the same for Junior English on the edge of the box.

Celts striker Jimmy Spencer got his first sight of goal of the evening soon after the resumption, but drove his shot high over the bar after the Brakes defence almost gifted him possession just outside the box.

Tom Allan followed Chris Atkinson into Referee Tom Kirk’s notebook after a fierce challenge on English inside the centre circle which infuriated the Leamington players, but Holleran’s men quickly picked up where they left off, pushing their hosts back into their own half. Morley scuffed a shot wide while skipper Joe Clarke tried his luck from distance, the ball skidding wide.

Sam Osborne was introduced from the bench as Leamington won their first corner of the evening and was instantly involved, heading back across goal for Smith to hook a shot agonisingly over from close range. as Josh Martin recycled the ball into the box from the right after Kaiman Anderson’s shot had been blocked. Martin himself had the next chance but was caught slightly off guard as he didn’t expect the ball to reach him, and his shot on the stretch bounced wide.

Edwards and Danny Waldron were thrown on as Leamington cranked up the pressure, and Waldron crashed in a powerful drive that was met by a flying save from Drench, who punched the ball clear.

Osborne was clearly keen to make an impact and he certainly did that, his desire to carry the ball into threatening areas and his closing down were a joy to watch as the boys in blue drove forward in search of the equaliser, while at the back Kyle Morrison, improving with every game as he finds his feet in the National League North, did superbly to cut out Spencer’s attempted back heel for Ben Atkinson on the edge of the box, sidestepping a challenge before shovelling the ball clear.

Just when it appeared time was starting to run out, Edwards pounced in dramatic style. The ball was recycled on the right, and despite Drench and his defenders desperately trying to keep the ball out as shots were blocked, the substitute slammed the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Jake Weaver epitomised the battling qualities shown by his team mates as he flung himself across a crowd of bodies to hold on to a free kick played in from the left as the game entered four minutes of additional time.

Leamington still had chances to win it, Osborne seeing a shot blocked while another was deflected behind for a corner which was played in very close to goal.

In the final throes of the game Osborne set off on a mazy run from just inside his own half and looked set to go all the way before just losing control of the ball as the Referee blew the final whistle.

Given the circumstances this was a hugely encouraging performance from Brakes, who have given themselves a platform to build on. Boarding a tired but contented team coach for the journey home, Paul Holleran was pleased with the endeavour shown by his side.

‘I think we’re all going to have to get used to a lot of stopping and starting and Tuesday night travelling,’ said the manager. ‘There’s no doubt we were a bit concerned when we started the season, we looked a bit flat in the first couple of games. We did well at Chester but conceded bad goals but tonight, away from home against a side with a very good home record, and especially going a goal down to a fantastic free kick, you’ve got to dig deep then but we’ve fought and scrapped to get back into the game which you’ve got to do against Farsley, and we’ve got a foothold and finished the half really strongly.

‘I thought we showed lots of character; we were brave on the ball on a difficult pitch….. The subs that came on have made an impact, they’ve given us some legs. You could argue with the chances and possession we’ve had we deserved to win it, but I think that similar to Chester, the performance was good, and while we’re trying to get some momentum and while we’re trying to gel some new players, we’ll take that. That’s two encouraging performances away from home now, and it’s great that we’ve got something to show for it tonight.’

Farsley Celtic: Steven Drench, Jordan Richards, Joe West, Tom Allan, Danny Ellis © (14 Tyler Walton, 69), Adam Clayton, Ben Atkinson, Chris Atkinson, Jimmy Spencer, Jake Charles, Dave Syers (12 Carl Johnston, 59).

Subs not used: 15 Will Hayhurst, 16 Luke Parkin, 17 Ashley Smith-Brown.

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Josh Martin (15 Danny Waldron, 75), Stephan Morley, Joe Clarke ©, Kyle Morrison, Jack Lane, Connor Taylor (14 Sam Osborne, 62), Simeon Maye, Lance Smith (17 Jack Edwards 71), Junior English, Kaiman Anderson.

Subs not used: 12 Callum Gittings, 16 Dan Meredith.

Referee: Mr Thomas Kirk

Assistant Referees: Mr Majid Ali & Mr Simon Kells

Brakes Man of the Match: Kyle Morrison.