Wed, 04 Mar 2009 @ Creasey Park, Dunstable. . vs Dunstable Town (4-0). British Gas Business Southern League Midland Division. By P Edwards.
Tuesday March 3rd, 2009
On a night when atrocious weather caused havoc, and more fixture pile ups for our title rivals, Dunstable Town and Leamington played out 90 minutes in the howling wind and torrential rain, on a pitch that was starting to show the strain by the end of the match. It is difficult not to feel some sympathy for Dunstable, as they have suffered some bad luck whilst trying to restore their Creasey Park ground to its former glories, with the awful weather leading to them having to demolish part of their clubhouse. To make matters worse, their manager, Lee Cowley, had decided to resign prior to this game. Despite this, the welcome we received was a friendly one. However, on the field of play, Brakes were in no mood to hand out gifts, and eventually wore their hosts down with a determined display, despite the awful conditions.
There was one constant throughout - the wind and rain, which did not abate for the duration of the game. The 179 hardy souls who braved the conditions took shelter up in the stand and under cover behind the goal, as the players did their best to keep control. Mark Bellingham forced a couple of early corners, the second of which was punched clear by Dunstable keeper Paul Taylor. The home custodian was then forced to rush from his line to clear from Bellingham again, as he tried to latch on to a through ball. The same player then nodded a James Husband cross wide, although he was under pressure from two defenders.
Both sides were finding it difficult to keep possession, but Leamington appeared to be coping better, and continued to search for an opening goal. Luke Corbett won a free kick just outside the penalty area, and received a lecture from the referee for throwing the ball into the ground in frustration. Guy Sanders struck the dead ball along the ground, and it was held by Taylor.
The referee was content to let play flow where possible, and he allowed the game to continue as Stuart Herlihy was fouled, thirty yards from goal. There was no obvious advantage as play continued, so it was moved back to where the original infringement took place. Luke Corbett headed just over from the free kick. Dunstable were not seeing a lot of the ball in attacking positions, and when they did eventually get into one, they were caught offside. Chris Kiely then saved a free kick played in from wide on the left wing.
Another free kick, won by Corbett in a similar position to the previous two, was struck into the wall by Sanders, before Brakes moved in front on 33 minutes. Marcus Jackson launched a swirling cross from out on the right, close to the half way line, that dropped down into the area, with Mark Bellingham well placed to get the faintest of touches to guide it past the keeper. Leamington's leading scorer almost provided a chance for a second goal, moments later, as he burst into the penalty area on the left, but his ball flashed across the six yard box with nobody available to get on the end of it.
Chris Kiely was down to make a good block, as the home side broke through quickly, but he was largely untroubled during the first half. Bellingham again got through on the left, past one defender, but the Dunstable back line were in quickly to block out his dangerous cross for another corner.
There was a talking point minutes before the half time break, when Marcus Jackson was sent sprawling by a late challenge from Lee Burgoyne, who was no doubt rather surprised to be shown a straight red card after a lengthy talking to from Mr Knowles, the Referee. There were a couple of long sliding challenges made by Brakes players during the game, and one that stood out, by Liam Reynolds, looked fantastic, as he won the ball cleanly and did not touch the player, but with the pitch in the condition it was, due to the rain, any mis-timed tackle could have been construed as being a dangerous one in this game. Jackson continued for a few minutes, but looked winded, and was replaced just before the whistle by Chris Murphy, who made his debut after signing from Blue Square North side Redditch United at the weekend.
The majority of the crowd congregated in the main stand, and the conversation during half time turned to worry over whether or not the game would reach its conclusion, with puddles appearing on the pitch. It was certainly making life difficult for the players, but Leamington continued to create chances in the second half, and had the conditions been better, they may have taken more of them. James Husband perhaps should have done better with one that came his way, as he took possession in acres of space on the left of the penalty area, but shot wide. Then came a succession of corners, the first of which was played out to Jai Stanley on the edge of the box. His shot was deflected behind for a second corner, which was put behind by a blue shirted player again, and from the third dead ball, Stuart Herlihy's header was goal bound, but a defender got in the way once again.
It would be unfair to judge Chris Murphy on one half of football in such conditions, but he certainly looks neat and composed on the ball, and he marked his debut for his hometown club with a goal just after the hour, taking possession on the right and firing a low shot beyond Taylor to double the lead.
Dunstable were certainly fighting an uphill battle now, and for a brief moment it seemed they might go clear with their two front men in on Chris Kiely's goal, but the ball was stabbed back to the Brakes keeper. You sensed that a goal back might spur the home side on further, but Leamington remained confident, despite the worsening conditions. The ball was starting to stick a little in certain areas of the pitch. Luke Corbett made inroads down the right hand side, but his cross was only half cleared to the edge of the box, and with nobody close enough to reach it, the ball was scrambled clear. Chris Murphy hit the side netting with a shot from a similar position to where he scored his goal. There really should have been a third goal when James Husband found more space on the left and whipped a cross right in front of goal which substitute Josh Blake was inches from connecting with.
Liam Reynolds did superbly to keep his footing inside the Brakes penalty area, and rob one of the Dunstable substitutes as he charged up the right hand side, but with time running out, the seal was put on this game, when Leamington added a third goal. Luke Corbett ran tirelessly up front all night, and got his reward when he raced towards a long pass up field, challenging keeper Taylor, who tried to take the ball round Corbett, but slipped, allowing the striker to take a couple of touches and pass the ball into an empty net.
Guy Sanders struck a shot from fully 35 yards out that travelled along the ground, but was straight at the keeper, before Jamie Lenton scored the final goal of the night, looping a shot in from the left that the back peddling Taylor could only help into the roof of his net.
There was a chance for an 'old five' when Liam Reynolds was awarded a somewhat fortuitous penalty with the final kick of the game. It appeared that he had slipped as he charged into the area, but something was spotted, a the spot kick was awarded. Taylor made up in some way for his error on the third goal by doing enough to keep the penalty out, as the full time whistle blew, and both sides, understandably, were eager to reach the warmth of the dressing rooms.
This result, and the clean sheet, will no doubt boost the returning confidence a little more, as Brakes look forward to a local derby with Bedworth United at the New Windmill on Saturday.
Dunstable Town: Paul Taylor [C], Dan Picknell, Lee Burgoyne, Nick Nolan, Stuart Deaton, Danny Ryan, Matt Baldry, Stuart Sinclair, Darrell Elliott, Karl Quinn, Stuart Strange.
Substitutes: Francis Harkin, Ross McLaughlan, Rob Newman. *
Leamington: Chris Kiely, Marcus Jackson (Chris Murphy, 44), Ryan Parisi, Adam Cooper, Guy Sanders, Liam Reynolds, Stuart Herlihy, Jai Stanley (Jamie Lenton, 73), Luke Corbett, Mark Bellingham (Josh Blake, 73), James Husband.
Subs not used: Mykel Beckley, Richard Anstiss.
Attendance: 179.
Note* - I noted that two of the Dunstable Town substitutes were used, but as I was unable to get hold of a team sheet, I could not record who they replaced as I didn't know their numbers. If anybody from Dunstable reading can help with this, please E mail press@leamingtonfc.co.uk . Thanks. - MotM Stuart Herlihy.