Boldmere batter Brakes into submisson and open up the title race

Brakes crashed to their first home league defeat of the season to open up the championship race and make for a miserable four days for the Club following the FA Vase defeat at Curzon Ashton.

With the recent wet weather, the match remained in doubt until late afternoon and only 345 people turned up at the New Windmill Ground, the lowest crowd since the 232 against Cradley Town nearly a year ago. The only positive to come out of the evening was the pre-match presentation by Chairman Mick Brady to Josh Blake to mark his 300th appearance for the Club. The football itself made for a pretty gloomy time for the home supporters.

As soon as the action got underway, it was obvious that the speedy Boldmere attack was going to be a handful, just has it had been in the away encounter back in October. The returning Andy Gregory and Adam Cooper lacked recent match practice and, along with Adrian Fuller, they were to be tested to the full throughout the match.

In only the first minute, the lively Eric Bowen crossed from the right to Thomas Stevenson and Jason Pearcey made the first of a number of saves that were to keep Brakes in the contest. On 6 minutes, Pearcey denied Mykel Beckley and Daniel Parker went close with a header shortly after.

The opening goal came in the 20th minute when Stuart Herlihy was adjudged to have fouled Peter Gould and, from the resultant free-kick taken by Liam McDonald, central defender David Davies rose high to head home through a tangle of Brakes bodies.

The ever-threatening Mykel Beckley doubled the advantage on 28 minutes, picking up a pass from McDonald to give Pearcey no chance. Brakes could have pulled one back with four minutes of the half remaining when Ben Mackey's pass found Blake out on the right, but he was forced to shoot from distance and an acute angle and the ball flashed across the face of the goal.

The Brakes 'keeper was to deny Beckley another goal in the 44th and, so disjointed was the first-half display, it was difficult to see how the league leaders could turn around a two-goal start to an in-form team. Although Ben Mackey gave Brakes a lifeline when turning Daniel Parker and smashing an unstoppable shot past visiting 'keeper Paul Fellows on 72 minutes, they still looked to have a formidable task and so it proved.

True, there were other chances for Brakes, notably a well-struck Jon Adams shot that went just over the bar and a Jamie Towers effort which almost got under Fellows' body. For a time, Boldmere were forced to defend in numbers, leaving Beckley as a lone striker and Brakes thought they had equalised when Avun Jephcott's header seemed to have crossed the line in the 85th minute.

However, this was to be Boldmere's day and Mykel Beckley wrapped the game up for the visitors two minutes from the end, catching out the Brakes defence and giving Pearcey no chance.

The home defence has been the bedrock of the early season run, but ten goals have now been leaked in the last three matches and the attack can't always produce four goals to counterbalance those conceded. Choosing a Man of the Match was difficult to say the least, but again James Husband attacked and defended with great enthusiasm and to some effect and could so easily have scored before Beckley's strike, only to see Fellows palm his fierce shot away.

The news that Romulus had defeated Tipton Town means that Brakes' lead can now be cut to thirteen points and, with nearly a third of the fixtures still to be completed, the gap could soon disappear. Who would have thought that only a month ago?

Leamington Jason Pearcey; Jamie Towers (Martin Thompson 84); Adrian Fuller; Adam Cooper; Andy Gregory; Morton Titterton [Capt.]; Stuart Herlihy; Josh Blake (Jon Adams 46); Ben Mackey; Dave Pearson (Avun Jephcott 65); James Husband
Subs Not Used Martin Hier; Craig Dutton

Boldmere St. Michaels Paul Fellows; Peter Gould (Ross Breese 81); Jack Brown; Rob Simcox [Capt.]; Daniel Parker; David Davies; Eric Bowen; Liam McDonald; Thomas Stevenson; Mykel Beckley; Nathan Gough (Dwayne Henry 76)
Subs Not Used Neil Watkins; Rob Clarke

Attendance 345

Author's Man of the Match James Husband

Photographs from the match here»