All square at Quorn, but only just!

A Jon Adams penalty 13 minutes from time spared Brakes' blushes and earned an unlikely point in a below par performance at Quorn.

Injuries had robbed the team of the attacking prowess of Josh Blake and James Husband, leaving manager Jason Cadden to shuffle the pack and field an unfamiliar line-up. In came Steve Thompson in a wing-back pairing with Jon Adams, leaving Dave Care to fill Husband's position on the left side of attack. Martin Thompson and Ryan Howell provided the strike force, but they got very little change out of Quorn's tall and strong central defensive pairing of Michael Smith and Adie Greatrex.

Brakes did have two good chances in the first half, but 'keeper Matthew Nurse was equal to the task, most notably when making a point-blank save to beat out an Adams' piledriver in the 33rd minute. However, the home side wasted a number of clear-cut opportunities with Marc Sherlock the guilty culprit, particularly when putting his shot across the face of the goal in the 22nd and then heading wide four minutes later.

Sherlock made another opening in the 38th minute, but Richard Morris raced to the edge of the penalty area to deny him. Then it was the turn of Kris Nurse to head over with only Morris to beat. With one minute of the half remaining, Care went on one of his trademark runs into the home penalty area, but his cross went agonisingly close to goal and Martin Thompson couldn't take advantage.

On the balance of play, Brakes were fortunate to reach the half-time interval on level terms and it was clear that the second half would be just as tough as the first.

The teams resumed with Care dropping back allowing Adams to push up into his preferred midfield role. However, Quorn continued to create chances and Sherlock was again in the thick of things giving Steve Thompson a hard time with his pace. It was from down the right touchline that Quorn finally opened the scoring in the 68th minute when Sherlock cut inside and made amends for his earlier lapses, beating Morris with a low shot into the corner (1-0).

Despite the running and effort from Martin Thompson and Howell, it looked impossible for Brakes to find a way back but, in the 77th minute, Howell was pushed in the back inside the penalty area. Up stepped Adams to coolly put his spot-kick away and level the scores (1-1).

With five minutes remaining, Adams burst through into the Quorn half, but the move broke down when Steve Thompson sent his cross high and wide. Mick Feely, who looked good with Tom Cudworth in the heart of the Brakes defence, let in Sherlock with three minutes to go, but recovered from his mistake to clear the danger. Then, in the last move of the match, Howell sent a shot just wide of the post when a pass to the unmarked Morgan might have brought the win that had seemed so unlikely throughout the 90 minutes.

Assistant Manager Keith Orme said, "We are happy with the point given we had to play people out of position because of injuries and unavailability of some players. Hopefully, we will be back to full strength soon, but with Neil Stacey now starting his suspension and Josh and James both needing to rest their injuries, we will still be up against it. Jody Mckay should be back in contention on Monday against Westfields."

Quorn Matthew Nurse [Capt.]; James Peryer; Adam Beazeley; Michael Smith; Adrian Greatrex; Steven Coates' Marc Sherlock; Gary Griffiths (Karl Brennan 67); Liam Turner; David Burraway; Kris Nurse
Subs Not Used: Ricky Nurse; Nick Goold; Ryan North; Douglas Keast

Leamington Richard Morris; Jon Adams; Steve Thompson; Mick Feely; Tom Cudworth; Neil Stacey; Stuart Herlihy; Morton Titterton [Capt.] (Leon Morgan 63); Ryan Howell; Martin Thompson; Dave Care
Subs Not Used: Alex Rodman; Andy Crabtree; Paul Eden; Paul Shepherd

Attendance 193

Match photos»