Wed, 25 Feb 2009 @ The Scholars Ground, Church Street, Chasetown. . vs Chasetown (0-2). British Gas Business Southern League Midland Division. By P Edwards.
Tuesday February 24th, 2009
Leamington lost two proud records on Tuesday night at Church Street - their 100% away record in the Midland Division, and their record of having won every game they had played at the home of Chasetown. The Scholars had gone down to a disappointing defeat on their home turf to Sutton Coldfield Town the previous Saturday, but they were up for the challenge in this contest, and in a game of few clear cut chances, they took two that came their way. Games between these two sides have always been eventful, and while this one did not contain any memorable incidents, both teams worked hard. Brakes had proved to be stubborn in defence up until the opening goal, but Chasetown were just as efficient, and they sentenced Leamington to their fourth defeat in five games.
The opening period was scrappy, with neither side being able to hold on to possession for very long, and defences were on top. Luke Corbett showed up in defence early on to help out his team mates, and had to hook away a deep cross to the back post. Marcus Jackson put in his usual fearless display, and did well to hold off a player twice his size in midfield, and clear the ball from danger. Guy Sanders looks to be getting back to his best form after his recent illness, and his positioning was spot on as he intercepted a ball played over the top for Dean Perrow, steering it back towards Richard Anstiss.
Mark Bellingham rippled the side netting with a header from a free kick delivered in from the left wing by James Husband, as Leamington made an assured start to the game. Chasetown were working the ball up and around the penalty area, but the defensive wall of Cooper, Sanders and Parisi were standing firm. A dubious free kick was given against Jamie Towers out on the left, and Anstiss made an assured catch in a crowded penalty area.
Chasetown seemed to be favouring the right hand side when they attacked, but if they were hoping to find a weakness there, they were to be disappointed. Ryan Parisi has not started too many games this season, but he has always put in a hard working performance when picked to start, and this game was no exception. Leamington seemed content to soak up pressure and break when they received possession. Mark Branch took a swing at the ball following a corner and missed his kick, before Parisi got in front of Perrow to hack the ball out for a corner. Jamie Towers found himself in the Referee's notebook for another soft challenge which did not merit a card, but as this official was the same one took charge of the ill fated late defeat at Stourbridge towards the back end of last season, many of the decisions which went against Brakes during the evening were greeted more with frustration than anger by the travelling support, who once again concentrated on backing their team to the hilt throughout the game.
Jamie Towers struck a hopeful shot wide from distance, as clear cut chances continued to be few and far between for both sides. Richard Batchelor was cautioned for catching Parisi in the face as the two players rose to challenge for the ball. Luke Corbett looked to have been played clear as a pass was cut out in the middle, and the ball played over the top, but Scholars keeper Ryan Price was smartly off his line to snuff out the danger.
Brakes started the second half brightly, and keeper Price and his skipper Richard Teesdale ran into each other as they went for the same ball inside the Chasetown penalty area. Brakes tried a cheeky free kick routine, the ball being lifted over towards Corbett inside the penalty area, but he was stopped in his tracks by an offside flag.
Ryan Parisi showed good vision to play a pass out of defence to Jai Stanley on the right, who moved up field and exchanged passes with Jamie Towers before sending a cross in which Luke Corbett got to first, but his smart turn did not create quite enough space for him to get his shot away, and it was deflected behind. Jamie Towers was up for the corner, and he met the ball at the far post, but his header just cleared the bar. Jai Stanley curled a low shot in towards the right hand post, but Price was down quickly to gather at the second attempt. Dean Perrow went close for Chasetown at the other end, before Marcus Jackson picked up a short corner into the area on the right and stabbed in a shot that was deflected behind. Mark Bellingham attempted to thread a pass through for strike partner Corbett, as Leamington attacked again, but the ball was cleared away. Corbett then found space on the right and got past one defender, but his pass went behind Bellingham and Husband, and with nobody following up outside the area, the ball was moved away from danger.
It was after this period of pressure that Chasetown began to exert some of their own, and they took the lead on 63 minutes when Dean Perrow was played in down the left. Richard Anstiss, left exposed, tried to narrow the angles by coming off his line, but the striker put the ball past him into the far corner. Shortly after this the home fans thought their side had scored a second goal, but they were thwarted by an offside flag.
The goal that settled the game came via the award of a soft penalty on 71 minutes. Richard Batchelor appeared to go down rather too easily under a challenge from Parisi on the right edge of the penalty area, and Perrow stepped up to dispatch the kick past Anstiss. Jason Cadden made some late substitutions in an attempt to salvage something from the game. Guy Sanders and James Husband both smashed shots towards goal following a corner, but a blue shirted player was in the way to preserve the lead. Substitute Mykel Beckley saw a shot blocked by Teesdale after a promising run to the edge of the box, and Jamie Lenton almost caught Ryan Price out with a cross to the far post that the back peddling keeper almost carried over the goal line. There were late bookings for Sanders and Parisi which could have been avoided, and Sanders headed narrowly wide from a corner, but for the second time in the last four games, Brakes were to finish without a goal. The match ended on a unfortunate note for the home side, Lee Parsons leaving the pitch on a stretcher after the final whistle, having spent the final few minutes of the 90 in agony behind the goal, having landed awkwardly after challenging for an aerial ball. He was applauded off by both sets of supporters, and hopefully his injury is not too serious.
This fixture turned out to be a case of one step forward, two back, after Saturday's win at Romulus. With Nuneaton sneaking a single goal victory at Leighton, and Atherstone snatching a draw at home to Marlow, despite playing most of the match with ten men, the momentum appears to clearly be with our rivals from the North of the county. Although they still have three and four games to make up, respectively, neither side looks likely to lose a game at present. The fact that they both have to play each other twice ensures that the title race is still far from over. All Brakes need to do is get back into the winning habit, which hopefully will start this Saturday, when Arlesey Town make their first visit to the New Windmill Ground.
Chasetown: Ryan Price, John Branch, Mark Branch, Chris Slater, Vaughan Thomas, Richard Teesdale [C], Ben Steane, Lee Parsons (William Ricketts, 90), Gary Birch, Dean Perrow, Richard Batchelor (Chad Sheppard, 89).
Subs not used: Joe Williams, Tony Onokah, Adam Burley.
Leamington: Richard Anstiss, Jamie Towers, Ryan Parisi, Adam Cooper, Guy Sanders [C], Liam Reynolds (Jamie Lenton, 81), Marcus Jackson, Jai Stanley (Mykel Beckley, 74), Luke Corbett, Mark Bellingham (Josh Blake, 84) , James Husband.