Westfields grab dramatic penalty winner as Brakes throw away two-goal lead

Having gone two goals up by the interval, Brakes looked like inflicting a ninth successive defeat on basement club Westfields. However, a determined second half comeback saw the home side strike three times, including a last minute penalty, to secure a well-deserved victory and put a large dent in manager Jason Cadden's ambitions for a top six finish.

The neat Allpay stadium lies in the shadow of the giant Bulmer cider vats that dominate the Hereford skyline. Brakes, who played with the strong, biting wind at their backs in the first half, were quickly out of the starting blocks. Right from the kick-off, James Husband and Josh Blake combined well down the left to set up Jon Adams, who put his shot tamely wide. Westfields then came into the game and, twice within the 7th minute, Neil Stacey had to break up dangerous attacks. Adams was then denied by home 'keeper Rory Hollingshead who pushed his goalbound shot around the post and, from the resultant corner, Josh Blake put his effort wide after a goalmouth scramble.

However, the Brakes pressure paid off as they took the lead on 13 minutes when Blake found James Husband out on the left who cut inside the Westfields defenders to unleash a low right-footed shot into the bottom corner (0-1).

Paul Shepherd then got into the action to thwart the dangerous Derek Craddock who pounced on goal following a Stacey mistake. Stuart Herlihy found himself in the referee's note book for a robust challenge that looked harmless to this observer, before central defender Alec Winstone cleared another Adams shot for a corner.

Westfields' best chance fell to Dan Moon who was picked out by a precision cross from the right by Matt Beale, but the striker completely mis-kicked. A poor clearance by Hollingshead went straight to Jody Mckay, but the home 'keeper redeemed himself saving McKay's well-struck shot. At the other end, both Stacey and Darran Tank fluffed clearances forcing Shepherd into a hasty save from Craddock. Morton Titterton was then called into action to thwart Paul Burton and, as the first half came to a close, Neil Stacey became the second Brakes' player to go into the notebook of an increasingly fussy referee.

The final flurry of action right on 45 minutes saw Titterton and McKay combine well to set up Josh Blake who planted his left-foot shot into the bottom corner to give Brakes a two-goal cushion going into half-time (0-2).

The injury suffered by Titterton in the first half necessitated him leaving the field within three minutes of the restart to be replaced by Steve Thompson. Whether this proved to be a critical disruption to Brakes' play is a matter for conjecture, but Westfields came more and more into the game and Burton shot wide with the goal at his mercy after Shepherd failed to gather a Craddock cross from the right. Beale then put a free-kick just wide before Mark Davis latched onto a cross from Paul Price to put the ball under Shepherd in the 59th minute to bring the home side back into contention (1-2).

This was just the spur that Westfields needed and they should have equalised shortly after, but Craddock shot wide with only Shepherd to beat. Then it was Winstone's turn to miss a good opportunity from a Craddock corner and Davis was denied his second by Shepherd who pushed his header over the bar. In an increasingly frantic rearguard action, substitute Ryan Howell cleared off the line, before Dan Moon missed the easiest chance of all for Westfields. However, Moon made amends on 90 minutes, forcing an equaliser and then stepped up to put away an injury-time penalty after Shepherd had rushed from his goal and upended Davis. (3-2).

Brakes' misery was compounded by the sending off of Neil Stacey for a rash and unnecessary tackle on the halfway line.

Manager Jason Cadden described the display as "one of the low points in my time at Leamington." He added, "We created a lot of chances in the first period, but only took two. We were disappointed with the second half performance when we let ourselves down. It looked as if we were going to ride our luck as Westfields missed their chances but, at the end of the day, we just didn't perform."

Westfields Rory Hollingshead; Paul Price; Anthony Rivett; Alex Hunt (Jon Hill 57); Alec Winstone; Wayne Hoskins; Matt Beale; Dan Moon; Paul Burton (Paul Jones 89); Mark Davis [Capt.]; Derek Craddock
Subs Not Used: Kevin Jinks; Darren Lynch; Mark Hopkins

Leamington Paul Shepherd; Alex Rodman (Ryan Howell 69); Darran Tank; Neil Stacey; Ryan Parisi; Morton Titterton [Capt.] (Steve Thompson 48); Jon Adams; Stuart Herlihy; Josh Blake; Jody Mckay; James Husband
Subs Not Used: Paul Eden; Tom James; Richard Morris

Attendance 142

Photographs from the game»