Missed Chances Cost Brakes Dear

The Brakes travelling fans made up the bulk of Spartak's largest-ever crowd of 165 but, on a windy and chilly afternoon, had nothing but frustration and disappointment to take back with them to Leamington. Missing Andy Gregory and Chris Hanrahan who were both unavailable, Brakes paid the penalty for failing to take several clear-cut chances in the first half, losing to two Spartak goals in the second period from former Leamington Hibs hotshot Delroy Brown and Warren Sewell.

There was drama in the very first minute when an inswinging corner from the right by Steve Thompson was pushed over the bar by 'keeper Kenny Sanders and appeared to drop through a hole into the net. After running repairs to put the net back in place, the referee awarded a goalkick against advice from his assistant who had flagged for a corner. Brakes should have taken the lead on 6 minutes when a Harj Dhesi free-kick found Richard Adams in the penalty area but, with a clear strike on goal, he hit the underside of the bar and allowed Spartak to clear the danger.

Josh Blake did get the ball into the net after 14 minutes from another Dhesi free-kick, but he was adjudged to be offside. Spartak were not having much of the play, but nearly scored themselves when a long-range shot from Karrol Hamber was well saved by Richard Morris on 25 minutes. Hamber was then booked for a foul on Ben Adams and, almost immediately, Leon Morgan turned inside the penalty area to beat the defence only to shoot wide. On the stroke of half-time, Blake had another golden chance to score, picking up on a long clearance from Darran Tank and shooting wide having done well to keep his balance under pressure.

One feared that Brakes had had their chances to win and that Spartak would take heart from the half-time stalemate. So it proved with Delroy Brown whipping in a free-kick from the right in the 58th minute to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Brakes searched in vain for an equaliser with their brand of football not being helped by the bumpy and already thinning Lye Meadow pitch. But to be fair, despite all the effort, the Spartak 'keeper did not have a save to make throughout the second half although Richard Adams could have scored on 70 minutes when he cut in from the left beating three players before shooting into the side netting. However, it was all over when Warren Sewell took advantage of a stretched defence two minutes from the end to make it 2-0 to Spartak.

For me, Lee McBain had his best match since joining the club and Darran Tank and Simon Walker made some vital clearances in defence. Jonathan Adams has some way to go to show that he can add something to the team and Richard Adams needs a goal to get back to the level of form that he achieved in the early part of the season. Without Stuart Herlihy or Chris Hanrahan, the midfield is lacking and it is to be hoped that one of them is back for the next match.

A disappointed Jason Cadden conceded that his side hadn't performed well, adding "Although we missed some early chances, we didn't create a lot over the course of the match, particularly in the second half. They were a physical side and we weren't strong enough to match them when needed. We let ourselves down and will have to bounce back on Tuesday against Dudley Sports."

Leamington: Richard Morris; Ben Adams; Harj Dhesi; Simon Walker; Darran Tank; Lee McBain (Darren Timms 55); Leon Morgan; Jon Adams (Vernor Sleem 62); Josh Blake; Richard Adams; Steve Thompson [Capt]
Subs Not Used: Phil Daly

Team News: Hanrahan and Gregory unavailable, Smith and Herlihy injured.