Home

Report

Chasetown 1 Leamington 3
Polymac Services League Cup Semi Final First Leg
Tuesday 4 Apr 2006
By Roger Vincent
Brakes Toehold at Bescot

Brakes took a big step towards reaching the final at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium on Monday 8 May with a good win, and three away goals, in the first of the 2-legged semi-final. With away goals counting double Chasetown have to score at least three goals at the NWG in next Tuesday’s 2nd leg, 3-1 to take it to extra time and, possibly, penalties and 3-0 to win outright in 90 minutes.
But the Scholars did enough in the first half to suggest that that is not beyond them and Brakes, whose second half performance in this match was magnificent, must beware of over-confidence. With light flecks of snow drifting onto a playing surface that had recovered from the mud-heap at the time both these clubs were competing for FA Cup glory it was Chasetown who took the game to Brakes in the first half enjoying the majority of possession as Brakes reeled under pressure.

Yet though Martin Thompson could have converted from a Stacey free kick in the 10th when he scooped over the bar it was little surprise when Chasetown went into a 17th minute 1-0 lead with a looping header from Edwards unmarked at the far post meeting a cross from the right flank.

By the end of the first half Brakes had been forced into two substitutions, Care coming on for Parisi and Leon Morgan for Martin Thompson. Though the half ended with Morgan, returning from a long absence, just failing to meet a through ball the whistle came with some relief for most of the 349 fans with talk of 1-0 being a ‘good result if we can hold out’. But, in truth, that seemed unlikely.

But the second half was such a different story that, initially, there was disbelief, soon replaced by joy as Brakes took the game to Chasetown. Maybe there was something in the half-time tea but more likely an inspired change of style with Brakes switching to 4-4-2, Rodman released from defensive duties creating havoc down the left and Titterton and Stacey running the midfield.

Then there was Morgan, gangly but quick and, most of all, tall with a powerful leap. He created mayhem in the Chasetown goalmouth but also popped up to head the ball clear when Brakes came under pressure.

It was all Brakes at the start of the second half and that was soon turned to advantage when Husband spun round in the box to smash a tremendous shot on target that the Chasetown keeper did well to palm round the post. In what was to be a feature of the second half Rodman found Leon Morgan from the corner kick and he lashed the ball into the roof of the net for 1-1 in the 48th.

Blake was now finding space as well, running everywhere with the crowd cheering him on. Then another Rodman corner kick, this time from the right, again found Morgan causing panic in the box; the ball came out to Blake who fired home for 1-2 in the 54th before running to the now delirious Brakes supporters.

Yet there was more. Jon Adams and Rodman stroked the ball around and earned successive corners taken by Rodman. Herlihy joined in the fun, twisting and turning past two defenders into the box before crossing for Rodman to drive an angled shot a whisker past the post in the 62nd.

But Chasetown were still in the game though such was Brakes superiority it came as a shock when Morris had to save in the 65th with Morgan heading clear out of the Brakes defence, and an even greater shock when Chasetown hit the bar two minutes later.

This was now a real cup-tie with Chasetown starting to come back into the game but every time Brakes moved upfield there was panic in the Scholars defence. Now Stacey started to employ a long throw into the box from anywhere in the last 1/3rd onto the head of Morgan standing in front of the ‘keeper. In the 74th Herlihy, who had another excellent game, momentarily took over Morgan’s role in the box from a Brakes free kick heading just over.

The pressure had to pay and it was Jon Adams’ goal in every way. He took advantage of a defence in disarray by robbing a hesitant ‘keeper who should have cleared. Bryan, in the Scholars’ goal, trying to retrieve the situation only succeeded in flooring Adams and was duly sent off with Jon Adams converting the resulting penalty in the 76th against the outfield player taking over in goal for 1-3 on the night.

Yet Chasetown persevered and it took a sound defensive performance to prevent another goal from the Scholars that would have made the 2nd leg next Tuesday even more interesting.

Leamington: Richard Morris; Alex Rodman; Ryan Parisi (David Care 31); Neil Stacey; Tom Sidwell; Morton Titterton [Capt]; Jon Adams; Stuart Herlihy; Josh Blake; Martin Thompson (Leon Morgan 43); James Husband.

Subs Not Used: Ryan Howell; Andy Crabtree; Paul Shepherd

Chasetown: Simon Bryan; John Branch (Neil Aulton 77); Mark Branch; Chris Slater; John Newall; Richard Huckfield; Matt Bytheway; Dave Egan [Capt]; Danny Smith; Karl Edwards; Duncan Horler (Ronnie Sayer 36).

Subs Not Used: Lee Parsons; Kevin Thompson; Craig Harris

Attendance: 349

Players' News: Ryan Parisi off with hamstring twinge and Martin Thompson dead leg, no prognoses; Tom Cudworth cup-tied; Michael Feely not signed in time, has to be 21 days prior for league cup; Neil Stacey 35 days suspension starts Monday 17 April for first red card.

Report

Bellingham hits number 40 to spare Brakes blushes
Sat, 04 Apr 2009 @ The New Windmill Ground. vs Rothwell Town (1-0). British Gas Business Southern League Midland Division.
By P Edwards.

On a day when an underdog took the honours in the Grand National, Rothwell Town visited the New Windmill Ground, and so nearly added a no score draw to the away win they claimed at Nuneaton earlier in the season. Lessons had clearly been learned from the reverse fixture at Cecil Street, when Brakes had netted three inside the first sixteen minutes, on their way to a 6-0 win. It was evident early on that a similar scoreline would not be forthcoming in this fixture.

With the same eleven that had started the previous game at Atherstone, Leamington started the game brightly, but this soon fizzled out, as the visitors set out their stall to frustrate. Luke Corbett fired an early effort inches wide, and Guy Sanders lashed a wild effort over following a corner. Jai Stanley took a free kick from out on the left touchline, but his spinning effort was claimed on the six yard line by keeper Alex Malong.

David Glass made some darting runs for his side, and played in Mbeybe Madine, but the striker poked a hurried effort well wide. The Bones were grateful to their keeper for keeping them on terms when Malong saved well at the feet of Corbett, following a shot from Liam Reynolds. Michael Boyle-Chong forced a corner with a quick shot, and team mate Kevin Byrne was cautioned for twice lunging in on Marcus Jackson as the pair battled for possession. Malong moved confidently from his line to claim the resulting free kick. It was evident that with every passing minute without conceding, the Rothwell keeper was growing in stature, but he began to get the backs of the New Windmill Ground crowd up by taking as long as possible with his kicking, and disputing the slightest decision against his team.

Jai Stanley shot wide after some neat link up play with Corbett, but Leamington were struggling to fashion any meaningful attempts on the Rothwell goal. Their best effort of the half came from a decent ball from the left by Martin Hier, which Luke Corbett glanced just wide. However, it was an outstanding piece of goalkeeping from Chris Kiely that kept the scores level before half time, as he stuck out a hand to push the ball away from Mbeybe Madine, despite being grounded as the striker attempted to move in on goal. Immediately after this, Kiely looked to be stranded as Michael Boyle-Chong attempted to chip the ball over him, but the shot went wide.

Mark Bellingham was heavily marked again during this game, sometimes over zealously, but despite this he still managed to get in the first shot of the second half, which Malong saved. Stuart Herlihy was somewhat unsighted as he knocked a shot wide, and Mykel Beckley was introduced to add pace to the attack, with his runs creating an extra problem for the visitors. Marcus Jackson put in another tireless performance, taking countless knocks for the team, and he won a free kick which looked very close to being inside the penalty area on the right hand side, but the dead ball was flighted over the bar by Martin Hier.

Rothwell began to test the patience of the officials with their tactics, and Danny Marlow was cautioned, having been substituted after going down injured, for his decision to walk across the pitch back to the bench, rather than around it as he had been asked to. Mykel Beckley slammed a shot over from a promising position, before Alex Malong took his time with one goal kick too many, and was also booked. Substitute Chris Murphy hooked a shot over from another good position, and saw another shot well saved following a cross in from Jackson. The tension from the sidelines appeared to be filtering through to the players, and while there was little threat to Chris Kiely's goal, the killer ball was lacking at the opposite end. Another shot from Murphy was put behind, and the resulting corner saw an almighty melee in the six yard box. Bobbie White had gone down injured long before the ball was eventually thrashed into the net by Guy Sanders, and it was unclear whether the Referee had blown up for what he claimed was a push, before the ball hit the net, but with time rapidly running out, his decision infuriated players and supporters alike.

It appeared that the game might be up following that incident, but mercifully, there was enough time for the pivotal moment in what was a poor game, to take place. In the 89th minute, the ball was moved across to Liam Reynolds outside the box, and his low shot looked to have been claimed by Malong, only for the keeper to undo all of his previous good work by spilling the ball to Bellingham, who was onto it in a flash, dispatching the ball into the net from close range to spark wild celebrations on and off the pitch. It is unlikely a goal has been celebrated so much on the North Bank since Andy Gregory smashed in a shot in the last minute to beat Highgate United, back in the Midland Alliance title winning season. There was a sense that justice had been done, due to what had gone on during that game, and the same seemed to apply today. The remaining moments were almost entirely played out in the Rothwell half, and the final whistle was greeted with a mixture of jubilation and relief. It is to be hoped that the long trip to Bury this Tuesday is just as fruitful, but that we see a better game to go with it. Hopefully this result will galvanise the team, as a draw would have given Nuneaton and Atherstone Town fresh hope of overhauling Leamington in the final straight.

Leamington: Chris Kiely, Marcus Jackson, Ryan Parisi, Guy Sanders ©, Martin Hier Josh Blake, 81), Liam Reynolds, Stuart Herlihy, Jai Stanley (Mykel Beckley, 58), Luke Corbett (Chris Murphy, 70), Mark Bellingham, James Husband.

Subs not used: Steve Palmer, Richard Anstiss.

Rothwell Town: Alex Malong, Mark Hackett, David Glass, Robbie Maddox, Martin Flannigan ©, Bobbie White, Sam Maude (Fazel Koriya, 70), Michael Boyle-Chong, Kevin Byrne, Mbeybe Madine, Danny Marlow (Shaun Goodhall, 70).

Subs not used: Ali Whiltshire, Gregg Mcilwain, Stuart Dorrill.

Attendance: 650 

MotM: Marcus Jackson.