Mackey secures Canaries treble

Brakes were left clinging on at the end to record a narrow victory, as Barwell bagged two late goals to leave the score line looking a lot closer than it should have been. This was not a vintage performance by any means, but Leamington did more than enough to win the game, and but for some borderline decisions they could perhaps have scored more goals.

The tone for the game was set early on, with Referee Mr Stowe’s whistle punctuating the opening minutes of play. Martin Thompson was in the thick of things early on, and it was he who opened the scoring, latching on to a through ball on the right before bustling past two defenders and placing the ball past Liam Castle in the visitors’ goal for his eleventh of the season.

Brakes dictated these early stages; the closest Barwell got to Jason Pearcey’s goal was a twice taken free kick by Karl Noble that sailed high and wide. Jon Adams saw a shot trickle wide after good work from Josh Blake to direct the ball down to him in the penalty area. Ben Mackey was, as usual being heavily marked, but he escaped the attentions of his defender to play a smart ball through for Thompson, only for the ball to be nicked off his toe. Stuart Herlihy then tried a neat pass over the top for Mackey to run onto, but Castle was smartly out of his goal to snuff out the danger.

The pressure on the Barwell goal continued, as Jamie Towers whipped in a superb ball between two defenders that looked odds on to reach Mackey, but it was put behind for a corner, from which Andy Gregory won the aerial challenge, and Martin Thompson flicked the ball over his head, and wide.

Blake was also involved in some promising wing play, and sent in a cross which flashed just wide of the far post. Barwell forced a corner which was curled straight out of play, but then nearly equalised with their first serious effort of the game, as Craig Noble struck a loose ball against the far post and away to safety.

Stuart Herlihy found himself in an unfamiliar position just before half time, as he was played clear into the box, but he seemed to hesitate, and this was enough for Castle to pounce on the ball.

Martin Thompson received a nasty facial injury from a high boot to his left eye, but the challenge from Nicholas Grant was not deemed worthy of a caution. Thompson played on until the break, and was nearly through on goal again before the whistle, but he was replaced at half time by Avun Jephcott.

Josh Blake and Stuart Herlihy were involved in a quick break into the Barwell half which led to Mackey firing a shot just wide of the far post at the beginning of the second half, before Blake went on a run down the left, and with Carl Bacon backing off he sent in a cross – shot that was palmed over the bar by Liam Castle.

Reece Lester stumbled as he had Barwell’s first effort of the half, which Jason Pearcey gathered safely. Andy Gregory then received what looked like a harsh caution for tripping Lester in front of the Sheepside stand.

The second Brakes goal arrived on sixty two minutes. Josh Blake shaped to hit a cross which was inadvertently blocked by Avun Jephcott, who stabbed in a shot which was deflected to Jon Adams. He poked the ball at the second attempt through to Mackey, who slipped it under Castle from six yards.

Six minutes later, Jamie Towers sent in a free kick from the left hand side which was headed back across the box by Andy Gregory, for Mackey to score a rare headed goal into the roof of the net, his twenty eighth of the season.

Brakes were in command at this stage, but a freak own goal threatened to undo all their hard work, soon afterwards. Reece Lester sent in a cross – shot which Jason Pearcey failed to gather at the first attempt, and it was deemed to have crossed the line for a goal. It was at this stage that the visitors began to come back into the game. They forced two corners, the second of which dropped right in front of goal, and Pearcey was down quickly to smother the ball.

Leamington were frustrated by several close offside decisions in the closing stages, some of which infuriated the home fans. Jephcott curled a lovely ball through for Mackey, who beat Castle to the ball and netted, but he was denied his first hat trick for the club by the assistant referee’s flag. Barwell substitute Carl Lawrence showed great perseverance to get a cross into the box, but Lester sent his shot high and wide. Stuart Herlihy was then booked for a late challenge.

With Craig Dutton having been so involved in proceedings, the pattern of the game seemed to change after he was substituted, and the ball was spending a lot more time in the Leamington half. However, Josh Blake nearly grabbed a fourth goal when he stabbed a shot narrowly wide of the left hand post after Liam Castle had dropped a Jamie Towers free kick at his feet.

With two minutes to play, Karl Noble ensured a frantic last few minutes, scoring with a shot on the turn inside the penalty area. The visitors pressed for an equaliser, and Richard Masters had a shot saved by Pearcey, but it was Leamington who came closest to scoring again before the final whistle, Dave Pearson was halted by an offside flag as he was played clear, Avun Jephcott tried to play Jon Adams in on the right but sold him short with his pass, then Masters gifted the ball to Jephcott just inside the box, Castle came rushing from his line to block, and Jephcott lifted his shot just over the bar. Six minutes of added time were played,  but Brakes were worth the win, and another three points to take them closer to their target.

Jason Cadden was satisfied with the outcome, and said ‘We deserved to win the game, and the lads did what we asked them to do. It’s another three points in the bag, we’ve had four great home wins, and now we need to go to Atherstone on Tuesday and get a good result there.’

*Martin Thompson was taken to hospital, but apparently discharged himself. He returned to the ground sporting a nasty looking black eye, but was in good spirits.

Leamington: Jason Pearcey, Jamie Towers, Martin Hier, Adam Cooper, Andy Gregory, Craig Dutton (Morton Titterton 70), Stuart Herlihy, Jon Adams, Ben Mackey (Dave Pearson 85), Martin Thompson (Avun Jephcott 46), Josh Blake.
Subs not used: Adam Knight, Liam Reynolds

Barwell: Liam Castle, Carl Bacon, Martin Fox, Nicholas Grant, Richard Masters, Karl Noble, Scott Clamp, Kevin Charley, Nicholas Pollard (Carl Lawrence 66), Craig Noble (Ben Lissaman 66), Reece Lester (Leigh Wileman 85)
*Barwell only named 3 substitutes

Attendance: 578

Man of the Match: Martin Hier

Photographs from the match here»