Shepherd goes from villain to hero to save the day

On a glorious sunny afternoon, Brakes won another heart-stopping penalty shoot-out to deny high-flying Coalville and book their place in the Polymac Cup semi-final.

Before the match, fans took the opportunity to express their support for Jon and Richard Adams with posters depicting their "alter-egos" the Chuckle Brothers put up all round the New Windmill Ground. Speculation about their future has been rife since the approaches from Rugby Town and Redditch United respectively. It certainly looked to this observer that Richard's game had been affected by all the media and fan interest but, along with brother Jon, he played his part in the tense finale, putting his penalty confidently away.

There was no Leon Morgan, another victim of the flu bug which has affected the squad recently. Morton Titterton took over the captaincy of a side that had a young look about it and which gave several players who have been on the fringes a chance to shine in front of the crowd of 476.

Brakes started nervously and could easily have been three goals down in the first seven minutes. Richard Saunders was the first to waste a good scoring chance, closely followed by Martin Fox who shot clear with only Paul Shepherd to beat. Then it was the turn of Stuart Wilson to put his shot over the bar.

Jon Adams' effort in the 9th minute was Brakes' first goal attempt, but visiting 'keeper Adam Wilcox got down well to save. Wilcox then thwarted Richard Adams who was well put through by Alex Rodman.

Three more good chances were squandered by Coalville with Lee Quincey heading over and then Saunders, having ghosted past Ryan Parisi, putting his shot wide of the post. However, the worst miss of all came from Fox who latched onto a quickly-taken free-kick but put his shot into the side netting from close-in.

Richard Adams burst through the Coalville defence on 34 minutes, but sent his shot high into the North Bank. He got closer four minutes later when connecting with a Josh Blake free-kick only to find Wilcox equal to the task. As the interval approached, Phil Garner sustained a knee injury in a tackle on Rodman and the match was held up whilst he was stretchered off to be replaced by Ben Thornley.

In the second half, Coalville again got out of the starting blocks faster than Brakes and Shepherd had to save with his feet in the 52nd minute to deny Saunders. Then Fox saw a good effort just miss the target before the pressure finally paid off with Jason Knight stealing in to convert a cross from the left on 61 minutes to give Coalville the lead.

Brakes got back on level terms in the 69th minute as a Josh Blake free-kick from the left was headed home by Morton Titterton. However, having equalised, they seemed to relax and Shepherd had to make a one-handed save to deny Saunders only a minute later. At the other end, Jody Mckay had the perfect chance from a James Husband cross but put his header straight into the arms of Wilcox. Further efforts by Richard Adams could have won it for Brakes, but the match went into extra time and the prospect of the result being decided on penalties.

The introduction of Dave Care seemed to give the side a lift and it was on 112 minutes that he went on one of his runs, darting in and out between defenders, and finishing with a low shot into the corner of the net. However, there was still more excitement to come as Shepherd, who had very much been the hero of the hour, let a speculative long-range shot on 116 minutes from Lee Miveld slip from his grasp and over the line.

So, we were into penalties for which the sequence of events was:

1. Jon Adams (Leamington) scored, 1-0
2. Jason Knight (Coalville Town) scored, 1-1
3. Richard Adams (Leamington) scored, 2-1
4. Stuart Wilson (Coalville Town) scored, 2-2
5. Andy Crabtree (Leamington) scored, 3-2
6. Dave Tonge (Coalville Town) missed, 3-2
7. Alex Rodman (Leamington) scored, 4-2
8. Danny Geary (Coalville Town) scored, 4-3
9. Jamie Coleman (Leamington) saved, 4-3
10. Martin Fox (Coalville Town) scored, 4-4
11. Dave Care (Leamington) scored, 5-4
12. Ashley Brown (Coalville Town) saved, 5-4

There were bookings for Neil Stacey (55 minutes) and Alex Rodman (67). For Coalville, Lee Miveld (68 minutes), Martin Fox (78), Danny Geary (78) and Jason Knight (112) also went into the referee's book.

Manager Jason Cadden summed it all up saying "What a cup tie!. It was end-to-end stuff and I felt that we deserved to win. We gifted them both goals and I still don't know how the first one went in. The second was a mistake by Shep, but he certainly made up for it at the end. We had a lot of chances, but were not clinical enough in front of goal. It was a good team effort, but Jon Adams had an outstanding game in midfield and Andy Crabtree was solid at the back."

Leamington Paul Shepherd; Alex Rodman; Ryan Parisi; Neil Stacey (Dave Care 98); Andy Crabtree; Morton Titterton [Capt.]; Josh Blake; Jon Adams; Richard Adams; Ryan Howell (Jody Mckay 69); James Husband (Jamie Coleman 106)
Subs Not Used; Tom James; Richard Morris

Coalville Town Adam Wilcox; Lee Miveld; Phil Garner (Ben Thornley 45) (Ashley Goodacre 81); Ashley Brown; Dave Tonge [Capt.]; Jason Knight; Martin Fox; Danny Geary; Richard Saunders; Lee Quincey; Stuart Wilson
Subs Not Used: Ryan Botterill; Oliver Fordham

Attendance 476

Match photos here»