Vanarama National League North
Aggborough Stadium
Saturday 7th November 2020

Brakes picked up their second point of the week from a full blooded scrap with old foes Kidderminster Harriers at Aggborough.

There were two changes to the eleven that started at Farsley Celtic, Jack Edwards and Sam Osborne stepping in for Connor Taylor and Josh Martin, with Junior English returning to the right back slot.

A minute’s silence was observed for those who served our country in the two World Wars before Brakes made the perfect start to the afternoon with just four minutes played. Jack Edwards found himself bearing down on goal, doing well to keep his footing under heavy pressure. His shot was blocked but there was Kaiman Anderson to follow up and thump a shot into the net off the underside of the bar, on the ground where he scored a late equaliser on his Leamington debut on the opening day of last season.

Anderson was all over the pitch in the opening minutes, his infectious appetite helping to drive Leamington forward. He was temporarily grounded after a superb block in front of the dugouts that hit him in a rather tender area, but was soon back on his feet, a neat exchange of passes with Joe Clarke saw a pass played through for Lance Smith which was scrambled out for a throw in by Kidderminster.

Smith then did well to rob a hesitant defender on the edge of the box, Anderson pouncing on the ball to send in a first time strike that took a deflection on it’s way through to Luke Simpson.

Harriers also took advantage of their first serious effort on goal by levelling things up on 14 minutes. Steph Morley was unfortunate not to cut out a good pass from Ashley Hemmings out to Sam Austin on the right, and his inviting cross to the far post was met by Koby Arthur, who thumped a header past the dive of Jake Weaver.

Smith set up Osborne to curl a first time drive wide of the far post, but Harriers were clearly buoyed by the leveller and enjoyed a spell in the ascendancy as half time approached. An unnecessary free kick given away in a dangerous position just outside the Leamington penalty area was curled towards goal by Ashley Hemmings, but just the wrong side of the post.

Edwards picked up a booking just before half time for cheekily kicking the ball away as the home side attempted to break with a quick free kick on the edge of their penalty area, but an entertaining first 45 minutes ended with honours even.

There was a chance for Leamington straight from the restart as Osborne and Junior English combined well down the right, the livewire midfielder crashing a shot into the side netting from a very tight angle. Simpson was then forced to shovel the ball away from his goal line as Simeon Maye hit the touchline and drove it towards goal. Harriers cleared but not very far, and Leamington broke again with Anderson and Smith, Simpson making a good save to deny the former.

Osborne was causing plenty of problems for the Harriers defence when he got on the ball, and won a free kick which was well struck but at a good height for Simpson to save comfortably.

Weaver was forced into his first real save of the afternoon as he dived full length to keep out a piledriver from Alex Prosser, while Smith found himself in the Referee’s notebook much to the disbelief of the away bench as he made no contact with a defender as he attempted to block a clearance.

There was a ‘how have we missed that?’ moment as Edwards won a free kick on the right which was taken by Osborne, English launching himself at the ball and missing it by inches at the near post. The ball continued to loop towards goal however until a last ditch clearance off the line by Lewis Montrose.

Lane was then saved by Morley from an embarrassing own goal at the other end as nobody tracked Arthur’s run on the left and he was left alone to drive low into the centre, Lane’s desperate lunge to clear the ball being hacked off the line by Morley.

Harriers’ second half substitute Jim Kellermann came close as he glanced Alex Penny’s right wing centre just past the far post. This would not be his last impact on the game, as little over ten minutes later he was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Clarke after a challenge midway through the Leamington half.

Brakes attempted to capitalise immediately, substitute Danny Waldron seeing a shot blocked while grounded, Maye’s follow up also being blocked.

Despite the numerical disadvantage it was Harriers who bossed the closing stages, making Leamington work very hard to hold onto their point from an entertaining contest.

Reaction from the manager

‘I thought it was a really good game. We started brightly, had a couple of chances, converted one. Kiddy then got a hold of the game, in the second part of the first half, and we had to try and drop off a bit and stay compact. Second half we came out and started really well, and on chances you’d probably say their keeper was man of the match - he’s pulled off two or three great saves, but then you look at the game as a spectacle and you couldn’t really argue that a point was a fair result.

‘I would probably say our last three performances, at Chester, Farsley and here; when I look at the whole picture, have been as strong as they’ve been for a long time for us. We could have won all three, but we’ve ended up with two points. So I’m looking at the performances, and I’m looking at one or two of the new players, the young lads we’ve bought in, and we’re settling; and whereas in years gone by we’ve gone to Chester and Kiddy and had to sit really deep and try and counter attack, in both of these games now we’re actually coming out and having a bit more of a go.

‘It’s been difficult with the late start and the covid and then we had a stop and a start again, it’s difficult for continuity. There’ll be a lot of draws and close games in this league, that’s the way it is, but the performances are sort of keeping me upbeat at the moment, and I’m pretty sure that if we keep those levels up we can turn a few of these draws into wins.

‘I’m probably more pleased at this stage than I was this time last year when we had 5, 6, 7 points. I look at the group and it’s good, but there’s a concern with all the Tuesday night games coming up, that’s something where I possibly think the likes of Kiddy, Chester, Fylde, York, they are more able to cope with it a little bit better, but we’ll see. We’ll have to trust the squad with that.

‘I’m pleased with the way we bounced back after the Boston defeat. We looked way out of our depth against Boston but we’ve come back with three strong performances against three good football clubs.’

Attendance: N/A - Behind closed doors.

Kidderminster Harriers: 1 Luke Simpson, 2 Alex Penny, 3 Caleb Richards, 5 Keith Lowe, 6 Lewis Montrose, 7 Sam Austin, 9 Amari Morgan-Smith, 10 Ashley Hemmings (4 Luke Maxwell, 81), 14 Max Taylor (20 Cliff Moyo 61), 16 Alex Prosser, 18 Koby Arthur (8 Jim Kellermann, 66).

Subs not used: 13 Tom Palmer, 17 Ethan Freemantle.

Leamington: Jake Weaver, Junior English, Stephan Morley, Joe Clarke, Kyle Morrison, Jack Lane, Sam Osborne, Simeon Maye, Lance Smith (14 Danny Waldron, 67), Jack Edwards, Kaiman Anderson (16 Dan Meredith, 85).

Subs not used: 12 Josh Martin, 15 Callum Gittings, 17 Connor Taylor.

Referee: Mr Ben Wyatt

Assistant Referees: Mr Niall Smith & Mr Jamie Conde

Brakes Man of Match: Kaiman Anderson.