Vanarama National League North
Your Co-op Community Stadium 
Saturday 29th March 2025

Brakes entertained play off chasing King’s Lynn Town with the final month of the season just around the corner, and mathematical safety all but confirmed in the National League North.

Fans from our friends in Germany at SV Eichede were visiting for the weekend, and presented a shirt to the club from their handicap team prior to kick off.

After a bruising encounter in midweek at Alfreton, there were five changes to the starting eleven, with Matty Richards, Tim Berridge, Will Shorrock, Joe Clarke and Owen Farmer stepping in. Dan Meredith was absent after taking a nasty blow to the head on Tuesday, while Josh Quaynor was also still injured. Adam Walker, Ewan Williams and Ant Lynn dropped to the bench. 

Callum Hawkins got an early touch of the ball down at his near post as hsi defenders shepherded it back in his direction when a dangerous ball was played into the Brakes penalty area. 

Richards came close to opening the scoring when he connected with a half cleared corner just inside the penalty area, sending a fierce half volley towards goal that was well blocked by Freddie Sass. 

Hawkins was commanding his penalty area well, confidently rising on several occasions to claim good balls into his six yard box. There were spells of scrambled defending from Leamington as the visitors peppered their box with long throws and crosses, with Rob Evans heading away from the line as Matty Warburton crossed dangerously for the Linnets. 

There was a brief sight of goal for Brakes as half time approached; Jack Edwards seeing his shot inside the box deflected, with Owen Farmer just unable to pick up the pieces as keeper Paul Jones collected. 

Warburton’s free kick was bent straight into the arms of Hawkins, while a Rob Evans long throw was returned to the Leamington centre back, who curled the ball into the centre, where George Ward headed on target but Jones held comfortably. 

Ward was then back performing his defensive duties at the other end, putting in a timely block to deny Gold Omotayo. 

Brakes engineered their best chance of the afternoon when some superb hold up play from Tim Berridge on the left edge of the King’s Lynn penalty area allowed Farmer to run on to the ball and crash a low drive onto the base of the left hand post. 

A good spell of pressure saw Ward’s attempted overhead effort blocked, while Jiah Medrano’s free kick from out on the left saw Jones hold Joe Clarke’s looping header. 

Cody Johnson’s powerful header from a corner flashed inches over the Leamington crossbar as the game entered its final ten minutes, but just as it looked like Paul Holleran’s men had done enough to earn a share of the spoils, they took their eye off the ball for a few seconds in added time, and were punished as Lynn substitute Fin Barnes swept the ball into the net out of the reach of Hawkins to spark delirious celebrations on the visiting bench. 

There was very little time for Leamington to respond, and though there muted shouts for a penalty as two men went down inside the King’s Lynn penalty area, the game was lost, along with another chance to move level with or past the highest National League North points tally of 54. However, with Needham Market’s defeat at home to Buxton, this confirmed that Brakes will be playing in the division next season, which is a fine achievement with five games remaining. 

The manager agreed that it was a difficult game to play in and to watch when speaking to BBC CWR’s Brian Halford after the game. ‘It was a really windy day; we struggled to get some control in the game, both sides I felt; so you’ve just got to do the dirty things, and work hard and be competitive. You can see the physicality of them and their set pieces and long throws, and I thought we’ve defended our box brilliantly. I think from 45 to 65-70 minutes, that was the spell - I thought we did well. I thought we’re picking up bits now; we’ve got our wide men in the game and had a couple of good moments. To be fair to them they’ve come back and finished stronger. I think our schedule and our options today… We just needed to get over the line there. It took a good bit of quality to beat us. It wasn’t to be, it was disappointing at the end. The boys have had 20 games in seven weeks. I was looking at my watch on about 92 minutes thinking we’ve had a good spell at home and haven’t been beaten; we’ve played some rather decent sides. It wasn’t what they deserved, but that’s football, that’s life, and we’ve had some moments during the season when things have gone our way. It hasn’t gone our way today, but there’s lots of positives to take.

‘We’re in March and we’ve confirmed the fact that we’re going to be in this division next year. We’re 16/17 points above the bottom four, and on a difficult day there’s lots of players done alright today, so one moment is not going to change my view on what I thought the afternoon was. It would have been lovely for the players to get over the line with a clean sheet and another point. It wasn’t to be, but that’s the quality of this league. We’ll brush ourselves down. The boys have given everything - they’re giving every last drop. You can’t ask for more than that. Everybody can see that, and I think if they can just get a bit of rest in their legs, a bit of recovery and strength and conditioning, then hopefully we can have a bit more energy in the last few games.

Attendance: 654

Leamington: 1 Callum Hawkins, 4 Matty Richards (8 Adam Walker, 72), 6 Rob Evans, 7 Henry Landers ©, 10 Jack Edwards (17 Ewan Williams, 69), 11 Tim Berridge (19 Ant Lynn, 85), 12 Will Shorrock, 14 George Ward, 16 Jiah Medrano, 21 Joe Clarke, 24 Owen Farmer. 

Subs not used: 5 Theo Streete, 20 Jacob Humphries. 

King’s Lynn Town: 1 Paul Jones, 23 Dylan Crowe, 4 Kyle McFadden, 6 Josh Coulsen ©, 15 Tom Wilson, 3 Freddie Sass (7 Josh Hmami, 68), 5 Greg Taylor, 30 Cody Johnson, 24 Matty Warburton (20 Fin Barnes, 88), 14 Ross Crane, 9 Gold Omotayo (11 Josh McCammon, 90+5). 

Subs not used: 21 Patrick Boyes (GK), 26 Bailey Marsden. 

Referee: Mr Robert Claussen 

Assistant Referees: Mr Stuart Lathan & Mr Jamie Stevenson

Fourth Official: Mr Robert Pealing

Brakes Man of the Match: Joe Clarke.