By Roger Vincent

Young Brakes Hit the Top Despite Setback at Rugby in 2-2 Draw

Young Brakes were below par against a good Rugby side but Rugby lacked the killer punch and a brace from Richard A Sutton put Brakes 2-0 up on the half hour. Rugby pulled one back with a disputed goal just before half time, then equalised in the second half after a period of sustained pressure. With Rugby unable to hit the target Brakes always looked more likely to score but the "winner" in the 87th, again from Sutton, was ruled out by an insistent linesman from Rugby after the referee had awarded a goal. But with Highway Sports losing to Stratford Town the previous evening young Brakes moved up to the top spot. With Rugby Town second the two towns once again top a league though the reverse of the Midland Combination Premier.

Rugby Youth were well on top for the first 15 minutes as Brakes struggled to get started. In the 11th Scott made a saving tackle and the in-form Van der Heyden saved from in front of goal in the 14th. This was not a good performance by Brakes' high standards this season; they struggled to keep possession and players were not moving into supporting positions. But paradoxically they always looked more like scoring and a Stacey shot was just tipped over followed by their first goal in the 23rd when Richard A Sutton wrong-footed the goalkeeper and stroked the ball home from a Stacey cross, 0-1.

The sturdy Poole was showing well in defence and, with Scott and Van der Heyden also in superb form, Rugby's direct shots on goal were limited though their approach play was good. Then, in the 30th the powerfully built Richard A Sutton made it 0-2 when he nodded home a loose ball after a Tolley corner bemused the 'keeper. Howell went close from 20 yds before Van der Heyden made a brilliant save from point-blank range. But in the dying moments of the first half a Rugby player ran through from an offside position to make it 1-2. The resulting protests at the (Rugby) linesman's decisions led to two yellow cards.

With Rugby now on top their good, interpassing play brought another point-blank save from the magnificent Van der Heyden in the 67th but led to a deserved equaliser in the 77th to make it 2-2. But, despite their inadequacies on the day, Brakes still looked capable of winning the game and all the late pressure was from them though Poole recovered well to stop a sporadic Rugby attack. A miss from in front of goal seemed unimportant as Brakes looked to have notched the winner with Sutton's hat-trick from distance. But with the referee pointing to the centre spot and the players moving into position the (Rugby) linesman stood on the pitch insisting on the referee's attention and the goal was disallowed, seemingly for an infringement which escaped everyone else.

The Youth league is a good, well-organised league albeit, except when Brakes are playing, it does not attract big crowds. It seems to me, then, too amateurish that the appointment of officials is at the discretion of the home club without any guidance, at least, that they shall not be from the same town as the club.

Leamington Youth: Lee van der Heyden; James Taylor; Stuart Poole; Ryan Howell; Lee Scott; Tim Green; Phil Thompson; Lakhdeep Dosanjh (Iain Groves 68); Richard A Sutton; Neil Stacey (Capt.); Josh Tolley (Jimmy Claridge 77)
Sub(s) Not Used: Nick Collen