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Saturday 1st March 2025

Brakes welcomed Chorley down from Lancashire on the first day of spring; fittingly a beautiful sunny afternoon, as the club celebrated inclusivity in the game. 

In his 750th match in charge, Paul Holleran made two changes to his starting eleven, with the welcome return of Dan Meredith after four games in place of Will Shorrock, who was absent from the squad through illness. Shorrock had performed admirably in the right wing back role in his team mates’ absence. Tim Berridge was the other player to step in, replacing Ant Lynn, who dropped to the bench. 

With the visitors in the thick of the promotion battle this was always going to be a tough assignment for Leamington, and with the pitch still not in great nick despite looking a lot better than it had done in previous games, the ball spent a lot of time in the air. Indeed, both sides sent the ball out of play unchallenged on several occasions in the opening exchanges. 

There was little of any note to report in the opening fifteen minutes, but this game turned out to be a slow burner, and when it did get going it was very entertaining. 

The Magpies really should have been ahead on 18 when a left wing corner was headed back into the six yard box by Harvey Smith to the well placed Tom Carr, who placed his header wide of goal when he should have at least hit the target.

Smith found himself in the Referee’s notebook for preventing Owen Farmer from potentially instigating a counter attack just inside the visitors’ half; a ‘take one for the team’ foul if you like. There was certainly 

Rob Evans then dissected the Chorley defence with a clearance that turned into a superb ball forward for Farmer, who darted into the box and played it into the centre, but the visitors smuggled it behind at the expense of a corner. 

The momentum was with Leamington now however, and they moved in front on the half hour mark when Berridge did superbly to beat his man on the right after being threaded through by Ewan Williams, driving into the box and cutting the ball back perfectly for Farmer to slide home and finish off a lovely piece of play.

Seven minutes later it was two. Berridge was full of confidence now after setting up the first goal, and when Henry Landers delivered a low free kick into the box that was only cleared as far as the edge of the box, where the Brakes’ number 11 connected with a sweetly struck half volley that flew into the bottom corner to the delight of his team mates and the home support. 

Other the chance for Carr that he probably should have put away the visitors had created nothing, but they are not up among the contenders for promotion every season for no reason, and hauled themselves back into the game four minutes before half time when Kole Hall was left unmarked to nod home a right wing corner from Adam Blakeman. It was a disappointing goal to concede from a Leamington perspective as they had worked themselves into a good position in the game, and now faced a battle to go in ahead at half time. 

They were very nearly pegged back when they gave away a free kick which allowed Blakeman to deliver another good ball into the box which was met by the diving Mike Calveley. However, he was denied by a smart save by Callum Hawkins, who as ever was alert to the danger.  

The second half was barely a minute old when Leamington restored their two goal advantage. Berridge was involved once more, receiving the ball from Landers cross from the right and beating two men before centering for Farmer, who was unable to connect, but fortunately it fell kindly for Ewan Williams to send a half volley into the net. 

Farmer clipped another ball into the box for Berridge to test Matt Urwin, but the offside flag was raised. The visitors then reduced the deficit again from one of a number of free kicks won in promising positions during the second half. Blakeman drilled a low free kick towards goal, and was aided and abetted by the Leamington defensive wall jumping as he did so, the ball flying past the unprotected Hawkins into the net. 

George Ward saw a header cleared off the line from a corner, while another Chorley free kick from a similar position to their second goal saw Blakeman against Hawkins again. This time the Brakes keeper won out, saving well. 

Hall then headed a Blakeman corner wide at the far post, while Farmer drove into the box at the other end past Mark Ellis and went down, but no decision was forthcoming. 

A spot of head tennis just outside the Chorley penalty area between Adam Walker and substitute Ant Lynn saw the latter nod on for Walker to stab past Urwin, but the offside flag denied Leamington a fourth goal. 

A great piece of improvisation from Farmer to loft the ball out to Landers on the right was matched by his team mate, as he lifted the ball high towards goal, forcing Urwin to flip it over his crossbar as it dropped towards goal. 

Chorley felt they had a shout for a penalty when the ball struck Farmer from another Blakeman cross, but Leamington saw out the remaining time to record their fourth win in the last seven games. 

The manager admitted it was a very satisfying victory for his 750th game in charge, when speaking to BBC CWR’s Brian Halford afterwards. ‘We were excellent from minute one to ninety five,’ he said. ‘There were just two moments in the game that when we look back, we could probably do better with, but that comes from pressure. They put you under so much pressure with balls into the final third, whether that be from balls in play or from set plays. They don’t waste any balls, they make you defend every ball. I think the biggest disappointment initially was that we get two nil up, then it’s two one, then we get that third goal, which is a great way to start the second half, and then it’s 3-2, within minutes, and that lets them off the hook really, because if you can put some distance in the minutes, you get a foothold in the game then. 

‘The momentum changed too quickly from when we got in front, so when it went to 3-2 they’ve then got the upper hand, and we needed to dig in, which we did. There were a lot of tired legs out there, we’ve done a lot of travelling, had a lot of Tuesday nights. It was a heavy pitch today; we lost Will Shorrock before the game, we lost Jack Edwards at half time; Matty Richards was unavailable again, so we’re asking the same players to do it all again, but we got better in the second half. I always thought we’d have chances, because of the way we played, with the counter attacking, but then again they’ve had some good half chances too, but on the whole I think it’s about right? I think we just deserved it. Chorley are a big strong, powerful side so it was lovely to get that result today.’ 

‘It was an interesting game to say the least!’ said Callum Hawkins, who also spoke to CWR. ‘It was never going to be one of those with passing football, but we got our game plan right, we scored three really good goals. Yes, the two goals we conceded, we probably could have done better, but in the end it’s three points, so happy days!’ 

‘We’ve always had that resilience to work hard, graft in the tough moments, and then when our chances came we took them, so we can’t really complain. Yes we’ve made mistakes, but we’ve ground it out, we made blocks, I only made a couple of saves, so it was a good defensive performance. 

‘We’ve had a bit of luck against us at times, but I think we’ve had that self belief in the group that we will get the results and they will come, and they have done. Obviously we want to complete our first goal and get safety in the league and then push up the table.’ 

Attendance: 708

Leamington: 1 Callum Hawkins, 2 Dan Meredith, 3 Josh Quaynor, 6 Rob Evans, 14 George Ward, 7 Henry Landers, 8 Adam Walker ©, 10 Jack Edwards (21 Joe Clarke, 46), 24 Owen Farmer, 17 Ewan Williams, 11 Tim Berridge (19 Ant Lynn, 74).

Subs not used: 5 Theo Streete, 16 Jiah Medrano, 20 Jacob Humphries (GK). 

Chorley: 1 Matt Urwin ©, 2 Adam Henley (12 Jack Moore, 77), 3 Mark Ellis, 5 Harvey Smith (11 Momodou Touray, 68), 8 Mike Calveley, 10 Tom Carr, 14 George Horbury, 16 Adam Blakeman, 21 Kole Hall, 23 Warren Clarke (15 Dubem Eze, 81), 34 Cole McGhee. 

Subs not used: 29 Noel Brindle, 32 Liam Birchall. 

Referee: Mr Liam Corbett

Assistant Referees: Mr James Wetherall & Mr Richard Fullicks

Fourth Official: Mr Harry Price

Brakes Man of the Match: Tim Berridge.

Photos by Chris Simpson and Keith Clayton. ©