By Roger Vincent

Brakes' Firsts See Off Southam at Last

On an evening of firsts, in driving rain in front of 170 people, Hanrahan capped a superb performance, with his first goal for Brakes, to open the scoring in the 15th and Wickson got his first of the season in the 64th to score the fourth just before youth team striker, James "Shearer" Harri came on for an impressive senior debut. Old hands, Webb and Agar, slotted goals two and three in the 56th and 61st. Southam got a consolation goal to complete the scoring but Brakes also missed a first half penalty and could have scored many more if they had taken their chances.

A Mort corner in the first minute was met by Blake who saw his powerful header tipped over by the Southam goalie. For much of this game Brakes struggled to hit the target, or made one touch too many, and it's tempting to think that, had this early effort gone in, the out-of-touch Blake could well have scored several more.

As it was, a frustrating first half saw a single goal when Hanrahan made it 0-1 in the 15th smashing the ball home from a Mort through ball for his first goal for the club. Timms missed a free header soon after from a position where he scored so many last season and a superb through ball from Sidwell released Blake whose second touch let him down. With the team, and Day in particular, shouting encouragement to the returning striker Blake, his strident efforts betrayed a loss of confidence that will return when he scores again.

This was pretty much target practice by Brakes in the swirling rain against a poor Southam side who didn't look much like a team with some recent good results. Timms, Hanrahan, Agar and Blake all had chances but none hit the target. The hugely impressive Hanrahan was the one really bright spark in a stuttering performance that promised much but threatened little. Thompson and Webb switched flanks in an effort, presumably, to change things and a good run on goal from Thompson resulted in a penalty in the 44th when he was bundled over in the box. Spurning the golden rule that the person fouled shouldn't take the penalty Thompson stepped up to drive a weak shot which the Southam goalie dived to save.

Then in the 56th minute the powerful Webb made it 0-2 when, restored to the right flank, he turned and smashed a superb, left-footed drive into corner from well outside the box. Brakes were now looking more purposeful though the unfortunate Timms completed a hat-trick of misses when he pulled a shot well-wide after good work by Blake and Agar. But in the 61st Blake ran rings round the defence before squaring to Thompson who hit a post and Agar was on-hand to slot home the rebound, 0-3.

Almost immediately Brakes replaced Mort and, within two minutes, the substitute, Wickson, scored when, in the 64th, his powerful drive forced its way past the 'keeper for his first of the season to make it 0-4. Brakes brought on the remaining subs, including James Harri, "Shearer" to his team-mates, who is 17 and has impressed in very few games for the youth team, making his senior debut.

But before he could touch the ball Brakes conceded a soft goal when a back-pass on the greasy surface eluded 'keeper Day for a simple tap-in to make it 1-4 in the 72nd. Arri nearly made an early impression when, in the 79th, he used power and skill to slip a Southam defender on the right touch-line, then drove at goal to see his angled shot deflected round for a corner. Hanrahan went close a minute later when he headed a Thompson cross down that bounced up onto the bar, a goal which would have crowned a truly commanding performance. With the defence less busy than usual, but doing what they did well, Gregory moved up for a crashing drive that was just wide of the intersection as the game slithered to a damp and greasy end.

Leamington: Myles Day, Glen Webb, Mark Rowland, Tom Sidwell, Andy Gregory, Chris Hanrahan, Nick Mort (Simon Wickson 62), Darren Timms (Harj Dhesi 65), Josh Blake, Brian Agar (James Harri 72), Steve Thompson [Capt.]
Subs Not Used: Barry Shearsby

Team News: Simon Walker rested, and needs all the rest he can get as his wife gave birth to a boy, Remi, last Thursday 24 Oct. Congrats from us all; Benson Miyoba is set to return; Ben Adams will be out 2 weeks with ankle problems; Paul Nicholls has an exploratory operation on his left knee this coming Thursday (31 Oct); he is likely to be out for up to six weeks. Baz Shearsby has appealed against the severity of his six-week ban and is free to play for the foreseeable future.