By Terry Ford (with thanks to Craig Barnes)

Home at Last

To play or not to play? That was the question. After yet more rain, and the postponement of yet another home game, (Cadbury the previous Saturday) the prospects were not good for this Wednesday evening fixture. A weather forecast of "sunny periods & 19 degrees" didn't materialise, instead we got dull and overcast - but it didn't rain! Cometh the hour, cometh the man (or men!) and true to form, Kevin and Keith Hancock, along with other stalwarts of the FOLFC grafted through the afternoon, and at 4:00pm the pitch passed inspection - GAME ON!! (A million thanks again lads!)

A 6:10pm kick-off and an excellent crowd of 361 saw Leamington pressure from the off. A Jonny Burgess shot was saved in the third minute and an attempt by Josh Blake was thwarted by the Lichfield goalie in the fifth. Josh fired over the bar seconds later and for the next twenty odd minutes we watched frustrated as shot after shot from the Brakes either went over, wide or was saved by the keeper. The twenty eighth minute saw Bagar eventually get the ball in the net. But the referee saw fit to call the play back for a prior foul? However - play resumed and resulted in a Steve Thompson corner being lashed home by Daz Timms to break the deadlock.

The remainder of the half saw efforts from Webb, Billington and Thompson all resulting in disappointment for the goal-hungry Brakes.

With five minutes of the second half gone Thommo was fouled on the edge of the box but the referee waved play on much to the collective chagrin of the North Bank. A minute later and Lichfield suddenly threatened! With several of their players bearing down on our goal, our emergency centre back Ian Billington appeared as if by magic, and mopped things up. A further minute on and Lichfield had a shot!! A Will Cliffe effort went over the keeper, bar and stand!! Ha! E-NOT Score! Lichfield continued to have more of the play for the first fifteen minutes of the second half as well, "C'mon Brakes!", a number of these potential threats being averted by the timely intervention of Liam (Smile of an angel, Heart of an assassin) McGovern.

Just after the hour, Lichfield's Wayne Essex was booked for a foul on Jonny B. Good! Timmo neatly chipped the resulting free kick into the box, whereupon Thommo took one touch and fired the ball past the flailing goalie - two-nil! Fantastic free kick, superb goal. The sixty-fourth minute saw Jonny Burgess substituted by Baz Shearsby and it took just over five minutes for the super-sub scenario to come to fruition. The super-sharp Shearsby latched onto a loose ball and rifled home number three. With the game now safe, Martin Beeston replaced Billo for the final fifteen minutes and Hayden Proctor came on for Bagar for the final ten. Four minutes later, and after a goalmouth scramble Josh netted his 26th of the season. More Leamington pressure saw a final goal in the fading light as Webbo smashed the ball in from the edge of the penalty area to register his first for the club. It turned out to be a comfortable victory, which saw Brakes continue to do the job of keeping the pressure on the leaders. Before the match we had been eleven points adrift of Rugby Town with seven games in hand. Back to eight-six then - another great day at the office.

Leamington Richard Morris; Ian Billington (Martin Beeston 76m); Will Payne; Liam McGovern; Adam Ball; Glen Webb; Darren Timms; Jon Burgess (Barry Shearsby 64m); Josh Blake; Brian Agar (captain - sub Hayden Proctor 80m); Steve Thompson