Ravens caged as Brakes take upper hand at Owen Street

Substitute Josh Blake scored twice to wrap up a hard-fought victory that secured Brakes' tenth consecutive Polymac Services MFA win and maintained an eight point gap at the top of the table.

Coalville's' caretaker manager, Bob Stockley, had certainly fired his side up and this was a physical match punctuated by a host of stoppages. Craig Attwood had come close to scoring for the home side on 19 minutes when picking up Chris Gray's pass and firing in a shot which 'keeper Richard Morris did well to tip over the bar.

Despite some good work down the flanks by James Husband and Jamie Towers, Brakes rarely threatened the home goal and home 'keeper, Steve Wilson, had little to do in the first half-hour. However, the match changed course on 31 minutes, when Ben Mackey latched onto Stuart Herlihy's through ball to beat Wilson with a shot that took a deflection and dipped just under the bar.

The lead was nearly doubled four minutes later when Wilson tried to punch away a Tom Cudworth free-kick only to see the ball bounce off one of his defenders and nearly back into the goal. He got down well to save from Herlihy just before half-time and Brakes ended the first period in the ascendancy.

Whilst Coalville were expected to carry the game to Brakes in the second half, they didn't really fire and, after Wilson tipped a stunning Husband shot over the bar on 51 minutes, the chances started to flow for the visitors. Central defender Ian Gaunt did well to cut out a Herlihy pass that looked destined to find Mackey who was racing in on goal and another Cudworth free-kick was fumbled by the 'keeper, dropping clear for a corner. Mackey was again close to scoring, turning well and sending a rising shot just over the bar.

However, just when it looked as if Brakes were never going to add to their tally, manager Jason Cadden made two substitutions that were to prove decisive. Blake and Martin Thompson replaced the tiring Mackey and Darroch, and the two combined to score the second in the 79th minute. Morton Titterton won the ball from Gaunt and his pass found Thompson on the right who, rather than go for goal himself, unselfishly squared the ball to Blake who finished superbly.

Blake completed the scoring with just three minutes remaining, latching on to a pinpoint cross from another substitute, Jon Adams, to score his 155th goal for the club and delight the Brakes fans who made up the majority of the 320 strong crowd. It could have been four right on the stroke full-time when Jamie Towers (who once again proved a handful throughout) went on a weaving run through the defence before laying the ball off to Craig Dutton whose goal bound shot came off Wilson's legs.

This win stretched Brakes unbeaten run to 16 matches and made up for the 1-0 defeat in the corresponding fixture last year (courtesy of an Andy Tidy free-kick). With only four points dropped so far, they thoroughly deserved to win the Team of the Month accolade for October and, for once, it didn't prove to be the football equivalent of the "Curse of Gnome."

Manager Cadden summed it all up, saying "It was a tough match, but we raised our game in the second half and are pleased to get a 3-0 win away from home. We battled in midfield and defended superbly to keep another clean sheet. Despite our great start, we are keeping our feet firmly on the ground and start all over again against Rocester on Saturday"

Tom Bates was missing from the squad through a family commitment and Dave Pearson is still getting over his back injury. Andy Crabtree has resumed training, but is still several weeks away from full fitness, but Adam Cooper could be back in contention next week.

Coalville Town Steve Wilson; Ian Rushbury; Aaron Cooper; Dave Tonge [Capt.]; Ian Gaunt (Antony Marriott 59); Alvin Jarvis; Chris Gray (Robert Smith 88); Craig Attwood; Dave Hollis (Rich Saunders 59); Carl Lawrence; Danum Russell
Sub Not Used Sammy Saunt

Leamington Richard Morris; Jamie Towers; Tom Cudworth; Adam Knight; Andy Gregory; Craig Dutton [Capt.]; Morton Titterton; Stuart Herlihy (Jon Adams 84); Ben Mackey (Martin Thompson 73); Scott Darroch (Josh Blake 75); James Husband
Subs Not Used Tom James; Jason Pearcey

Attendance 320

Author's Man of the Match Morton Titterton