Wright Slots First For Club but Young Brakes Bow Out of County Cup

Early pressure from Brakes unsettled Hednesford who top the Western Division and have done well in all competitions this season, but Hednesford showed why they are flying high with two quick goals before the half-hour and could have doubled their advantage before the break. A goal from Wright just past the hour, his first for the club, after Brakes' best spell of the game gave renewed hope but Hednesford got the killer third soon after and made sure of progressing to R4 with a fourth near the end.

Torrential rain about an hour before kick-off seemed to make little impression on a very good pitch but this was a damp, chilly night with an good crowd in the circumstances of 61, only just below the average gate. There was a brisk wind blowing towards the North Bank which favoured Hednesford in the first half.

Mwetaminwa scraped the bar with a 3rd minute strike from distance and an excellent passing movement, involving five Brakes' players, in the 6th promised much but Hednesford hit the bar in the 15th then made it 0-1 in the 16th when a corner from the left was headed back across the goal and looped in with the defence watching. Brakes had an uphill task when Hednesford scored again in the 23rd to make it 0-2 after a quick break following a Brakes' attack. Wright, for Brakes, set off on a powerful run in the 36th but he was on his own and, with no-one to pass to, couldn't make the final shot count. A tremendous stop by Morgan in the 41st kept Brakes in the game.

With the wind in their favour, and a half-time talk in their heads, Brakes got off to a good start in the second half and could have pulled one back in the 47th but for a very good save from Wright. Brakes continued to press and impress and the excellent Wright nearly scored in the 63rd before breaking through the defence and ramming home his first for the club to make it 1-2 in the 66th.

But with Brakes pressing for a murky, chilly extra half-hour Hednesford broke and though Morgan beat away the first shot he could do nothing about the follow-up with no other defender checking back, 1-3 in the 73rd. It's hard to instil a feeling that there is still all to play for when past matches suggest otherwise, but there was still 20 minutes left and Brakes had been on top. Despite a strong run from Powell, who hit the side-netting, and another Wright shot that was beaten out Brakes offered little after that goal. Perhaps the overheard comment from one of the players: "That's it then" as Hednesford's 3rd goal went in says more than it should.

In the 83rd minute Hednesford's no. 7 finally got the red card he'd been pursuing for much of the game in what seemed a personal vendetta against the referee, a minor miracle that he'd lasted so long and an unfortunate blip in a Hednesford team which seemed one of the fairest and nicest bunch of lads we've met so far. But although Wright went close with a header after a free-kick in the 85th Brakes couldn't make the one man advantage pay and it was Hednesford who scored again, slotting home from a corner in the 87th for a comprehensive 1-4 finish to take them into the next round where we wish them luck.

Leamington Youth: Richard Morgan; Dale Attwood (Chris Lewis 67); Jamie Coleman; James Lockyer; Andy McKinley [Capt]; Masango Mwetaminwa (Alex Harri 77); Simon Goodall; Tom Leaver; Joe Wright; Sean Rellis (Anvinder Thiara 77); Ashley Powell
Sub(s) Not Used (3 From 5 Used): Paramdeep Bhangal; Luke Warby