Report

By Paul Edwards 

Brakes collected another point on the road but will probably be disappointed that they did not get all three after Darlington earned a share of the spoils with a second half leveller.

Blackwell Meadows has been one of the more prosperous away venues for Leamington in the National League North, with Brakes having picked up a point in each of their three previous visits, but the Quakers came into this one sitting in second place in the table, albeit only four points ahead of Paul Holleran’s men in 11th.

The manager stuck with the same starting eleven that had begun the previous Saturday against AFC Fylde, and he would have been purring with what he witnessed in the opening 45 minutes as his team largely took the game to their high-flying hosts.

Dan Meredith’s driving run and cross into the arms of keeper Tommy Taylor as early as the third minute demonstrated that Leamington were not here to lie down, and they proceeded to largely dominate the opening half.

While Darlington’s opening attack saw Jack Lambert’s attempted shot deflect through to the giant figure of Mark Beck, who fired into the side netting, Leamington came close when Rackeem Reid won a free kick some 25 yards from goal which Devon Kelly-Evans drove inches past the left hand post.

Simeon Maye got on the end of a left wing centre from the lively Reid, but was unable to direct his header on target, while the former then glanced a header just over the bar from Kelly-Evans’ left wing free kick.

Jake Lawlor sliced over the bar from a great position at the back post as Beck headed down to him, and there was brief panic as Lambert nicked the ball from Theo Streete as he attempted to see it out of play, but his shot was blocked by the alert Hawkins.

The opening goal came out of nothing on 25 minutes as the ball was played into the box. Maye looked to try and get a shot off but it was eventually turned into his own net by the unfortunate Lawlor.

Reid was proving to be a real handful for the home defence, and held up play superbly before feeding Louis Hall to drive low into the near post, where Taylor collected the ball.

Just past the half hour came the moment that could have firmly swung the game in Leamington’s favour, as Reid latched onto the through ball and lifted it over Taylor, but Lawlor atoned in part for his error by dashing back to head off the line. The Brakes players were furious however, believing Reid had been clattered by the goalkeeper as he won the ball, and that a penalty should have been awarded, but the officials were not interested.

The natives were getting restless as their team continued to surrender possession with unforced errors with alarming regularity. Former Brakes midfielder Kaine Felix saw his shot from a cut back deflected behind, but Leamington continued their offensive and forced a string of corners before the half time whistle, and would have been disappointed not to go in with a healthier advantage for their efforts.

Inevitably there was improvement from the hosts in the second half but it was Leamington who threatened first when Kelly Evans won possession inside the Darlington half and played in Adam Walker. The angle was tight but the midfielder got his shot off and Taylor blocked with his legs.

Beck stabbed just over the bar from inside the six yard box following a corner on the right for the Quakers, while a scramble from another flag kick saw a header nudged wide as the home support in the Tin Shed behind the goal began to get behind their team again.

Substitute Jacob Hazel forced a good stop from Hawkins at his near post with a stinging low drive, but Darlo were level on 64 minutes when Lawlor lashed the ball into the roof of the net after Leamington failed to fully clear their lines from a corner.

With a little under fifteen minutes remaining the home side should probably have been ahead. Hazel was played in by a long ball upfield, and found Lambert, who stabbed the ball towards goal but it rolled agonisingly wide of the far post from a Darlintgton perspective, with Beck lunging in to try and finish it off.

Having survived this, Brakes were able to largely get the ball back into their opponents half for the final few minutes and take the point, which was the least they deserved from a positive afternoon.

Attendance: 1,255

Darlington: 1 Tommy Taylor, 2 Dan Dodds, 6 Jake Lawlor, 3 Jassem Sukar, 7 Ben Headley, 17 Jack Lambert, 4 Danny Rose (9 Jacob Hazel, 58), 8 Adriano Moke, 27 Kaine Felix, 19 Mark Beck, 30 Joe Leesley (23 Alex Purver, 90).

Subs not used: 16 Ben Liddle, 21 Jarrett Rivers, 42 Diogo Barbosa.

Leamington: Callum Hawkins, Dan Meredith, Louis Hall, Joe Clarke, Theo Streete, Jack Lane, Ben Usher-Shipway (12 Tom Hewlett, 72), Simeon Maye, Rackeem Reid (14 Kieran Cook, 78), Adam Walker, Devon Kelly-Evans.

Subs not used: 13 Luke Slater, 15 Junior English, 16 James Mace.

Referee: Mr Shaun Taylor

Assistant Referees: Mr Iain Turner & Mr Liam Smith

Brakes Man of the Match: Dan Meredith.