Vanarama National League North
Deva Stadium
Saturday 4th December 2021

Brakes agonisingly lost out to a tremendous goal in the final minute of stoppage time which saw Chester win a tumultuous contest played out in truly appalling weather conditions.

Paul Holleran made two changes to the side which started the disappointing FA Trophy tie the previous Saturday, bringing back Joe Parker and handing Junior English only his second start of the season in the continued absence of Jack Edwards.

The first half was sadly marred by a lengthy stoppage following the first goal when Brakes keeper Jake Weaver landed heavily as he attempted to claim a cross into the box.

Weaver had been involved from the outset, foiling former Salford City man Jack Redshaw twice inside the opening couple of minutes. Playing with the vicious swirling gale at their backs, the home side found the diminutive front man twice, but on both occasions the Brakes stopper beat him to the ball.

Brakes settled into the game after this, and came close with their first serious foray forward when English’s cross was deflected towards his own goal by Kevin Roberts, forcing a fine save from Chester keeper Louis Gray. Dan Turner then found space inside the penalty area for a strike at goal that flew over the angle of post and crossbar.

George Glendon was denied the opening goal by Jack Lane as the Leamington centre half diverted his goalbound header over the bar.

The hosts did take the lead just past the half hour but the importance of the goal was quickly pushed to one side as it became apparent that Weaver had landed badly as he attempted to claim the ball into his six yard box, and was laying unresponsive on the turf.

Paddy Lacey had stabbed the loose ball home and Referee Michael Barlow had signalled the goal, but the anger and frustration in the away end quickly turned to concern as medical staff from both sides and the St John’s Ambulance staff present tended to the stricken Brakes goalkeeper, who was eventually stretchered off the pitch around ten minutes later to warm applause from all sides of the stadium.

Holleran opted to replace Weaver with Callum Gittings, who had previously spent a spell between the posts in a narrow defeat at Alfreton in February 2020.

With the weather as it was, the sensible decision was taken to have both sets of players return to the dressing rooms until the situation had been resolved. The game was restarted shortly afterwards and the first half played to its conclusion. It would be Leamington who would go in with their tails up however, as a trademark surging run down the right from Dan Meredith was ended in the manner they so often are, with a foul. This was prime territory for Steph Morley, and he lifted the spirits of everyone of a Gold and Black persuasion by catching out Chester keeper Gray as he curled the resultant free kick into the bottom corner at the near post to delight the raucous travelling support, which barely paused for breath all afternoon.

Gittings first test came when Charlie Jolley headed James Horsfield’s cross towards goal, but it was straightforward enough for the stand-in keeper.

Alex Prosser could count himself extremely unfortunate not to register his first goal for Leamington when he connected with a half cleared corner with a thunderous volley that Glendon bravely got himself in the path of, diverting the ball behind.

Brakes certainly had far more of the attacking play in the second half, with Chester struggling to clear their lines at times in the face of a continually fierce wind. Kyle Morrison came mightily close to his first goal of the season when he headed Joe Parker’s right wing corner just over the bar, but with four minutes of added time almost up there came a shattering blow as Horsfield struck Chester’s only serious effort of the half, an absolute thunderbolt from distance that rocketed past Gittings into the net to a joyous roar from the home support still in the stadium. To be fair any goalkeeper would have struggled to save it, but it was a bitter pill to swallow for Leamington, who could argue they had done more than enough to merit taking at least a point back to Warwickshire. These are the highs and lows of football however, and whatever side you are on, that moment encapsulated why we love the beautiful game.

Brakes physio Pete Denham provided an update on the condition of Jake Weaver after the game, saying ‘The good news is that Jake was able to walk into the ambulance and was a lot more responsive than when he was out on the pitch initially. When we first got to him he was unconscious.

‘Obviously the way we’ve immobilised him and taken him off we were thinking it was a neck/spinal type injury, but he’d got movement in his neck by the time he left the stadium; so they’re going to rule out any spinal or skull fracture, and we’ll get an update from the hospital later hopefully.

‘He looked a lot better when leaving the ground - he had a bit of pain around the top of his head but was a lot more responsive and coherent.’

Jake was released from hospital and was able to make his way home after the game, saying that he was unable to remember anything about the collision or after it until he came round in the dressing room.

‘First and foremost, the good news is that Jake Weaver’s recovery has been good,’ said Paul Holleran. ‘When I first saw him land awkwardly from a distance I thought, he’s in trouble here. The first three or four minutes were scary, but we’re very fortunate that we’ve got a good medical team; and Chester’s staff, and the St John’s Ambulance, were fantastic, because it could have gone the other way, when somebody’s out cold. In those first two or three minutes which are vital, he got the right treatment and they managed to get him back round.

‘It’s the way things are going for us at the moment with injuries and everything else. As for the performance from us, I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players. As disappointed as I was last week, we played in similar conditions today and I’d probably say that we were really good against the wind and Chester were really good with the wind. Did either team deserve to lose? No. Did either team deserve to win? We might have edged it maybe, but we feel hard done by at the end because there’s a decision that’s gone against us in the build up to the goal, and Michael (Barlow, Referee) knows how disappointed I am with one or two things today; but I thought the performance levels were tremendous today. Sometimes as a coach you have to look at that. I’ve been standing on the touchline too long, conceded too many last minute winners and scored too many last minute winners to get too upset about it. The performance was good, we managed the conditions well and I thought Junior English was fantastic. When you’re standing on the touchline and he’s playing for you and your club…. He’s a great kid. So many great performances, and the players didn’t deserve that at the end today.

‘Chester are a great football club, and without them we’d have been in real trouble today. And in the interim manager Danny Livesy, who’s got the DNA of Bernard and Johnno - he wouldn’t be a bad option for them. I think he’s a real good guy and has got a lot about him.

‘We will keep going.’

 Attendance: 1,389

Chester: 1 Louis Gray, 2 Kevin Roberts, 6 Dan Cowan (10 Anthony Dudley, 46), 8 George Glendon ©, 9 George Waring, 15 James Horsfield, 16 Paddy Lacey, 18 Matty Williams, 23 Josh Askew, 26 Jack Redshaw (4 Declan Weeks, 69), 28 Charlie Jolley (11 Darren Stephenson, 87).

Subs not used: 12 Luke Clark, 17 Jude Oyibo.

Leamington: Jake Weaver (16 Callum Gittings, ), Dan Meredith, Stephan Morley, Joe Clarke ©, Kyle Morrison, Jack Lane, Joe Parker (14 Kaiman Anderson, 78), Alex Prosser, Dan Turner, Junior English (12 Kelsey Mooney, 81), Devon Kelly-Evans.

Subs not used: GK Josh Allen, 15 Kieran Cook.

Referee: Mr Michael Barlow

Assistant Referees: Mr Simon Robinson & Mr Mahid Ali

Brakes Man of the Match: Devon Kelly-Evans.