Blake the hero as Oadby's resistance is finally broken

Oadby Town looked like frustrating all the home team's efforts with the match still scoreless after 90 minutes of normal time. However, they were undone in injury time as Josh Blake once again proved the hero scoring the winner from close range.

With the wind at their backs. Brakes dominated the first half with Jamie Towers and James Husband testing the visitors' defence with good runs down the wings to set up chances for the strike force of Dave Pearson, Martin Thompson and Blake. However, the nearest that Brakes came to scoring was when Towers himself closed in on goal on 22 minutes only to be thwarted by young Oadby 'keeper Laurie Pearson. Then, a shot into the side netting by Towers was followed by a dazzling Husband run which ended with his strike going across the face of the goal and agonisingly wide.

An exciting move involving Jon Adams, Husband and Blake ended with Pearson sending his curling shot just over in the 37th minute. With half-time approaching, that man Husband posted an early qualifier for "Miss of the Season" putting his effort over the bar from close range.

Oadby did have chances of their own with Richard Morris having to get down quickly to deny Chris Parr in the 5th minute and Dave Fisher putting one good opportunity wide with only Morris to beat.

The second half was very much a repeat of the first with Towers and Husband posing threats every time they went forward. However, it took the post to deny the industrious Parr before Jon Adams also struck the metalwork at the other end. With the clock ticking and the match into added time, Husband sent over one last inswinging corner which Oadby failed to clear and Josh Blake forced the ball home to secure the points.

The relief round the ground was clear to see and hear and Blake is now closing in on his 150th goal for the Club, something that will surely put him firmly amongst the all-time favourites. There were numerous stoppages in the second half, notably when Laurie Pearson collided with his own defender Carl Bacon, and the referee added some six minutes which were enough to see Brakes home.

Assistant Manager, Darran Tank, admitted that it was "hard work." However, he added, "it was important to win our first game and I think that we deserved it over the 90 minutes. We were a bit nervous at the beginning and life got tough in the second half when Oadby sat back and seemed happy to settle for a draw. However, we kept going and created a number of chances and grabbed the winner right at the end."

Leamington Richard Morris; Jamie Towers; Tom Cudworth; Adam Knight; Andy Gregory; Craig Dutton [Capt.]; Jon Adams; Josh Blake; Martin Thompson; Dave Pearson (Ben Mackey 69); James Husband
Subs Not Used Morton Titterton; Adam Cooper; Martin Hier; Jason Pearcey

Oadby Town Laurie Pearson; Carl Bacon; Richard Conway (Daniel Hodgkinson 84); Tyrone Mintus [Capt.]; Joe Latham; Chris Parr; Shaun Phillips; Gary Moult; James Miller; Dave Fisher (Chris McCathie 46); Daniel Poultney (Luke Cooper 63)
Subs Not Used Marlon Bryon; Ryan Tilley

Man of the Match James Husband

Attendance: 552

Photographs from the game here»