Wed, 11 Mar 2009 @ The Meadow, Amy Lane, Chesham. . vs Chesham United (2-1). British Gas Business Southern League Midland Division. By P Edwards.
Tuesday March 10th, 2009.
Brakes emerged from a tense encounter at The Meadow with an important three points to continue their return to winning ways. Stuart Herlihy and Mark Bellingham, who scored the goals at the New Windmill against Bedworth last Saturday, netted the all important strikes in this game. The match was littered with stoppages, and even when the two sides were able to get the ball down and play, they were invariably halted by the whistle or an offside decision.
The early pressure came from the away side, with Lewis Laws forced to shepherd the ball out for a first minute corner. Mark Bellingham had the ball in the back of the net following a pass from Jai Stanley, but the flag had already been raised for offside, something which became a regular occurrence during the evening. A cross from out on the left found its way through to Chris Kiely, who had his busiest game since joining on loan from Gillingham. He was called into action again as Darrell Cox did well to get the ball in from the left. Kiely parried the cross, the loose ball falling invitingly for Kevin Cotton, but he blazed over the bar from close range.
Ryan Parisi, who had been performing well since winning back a place in the starting line up, was forced off after 19 minutes, much to his frustration, with a hamstring problem, and was replaced by Martin Hier. There were several lengthy stoppages during the half as players went down. Steve Palmer was shown a yellow card following a challenge on Danny Gudgeon, but the same punishment was not administered when Marcus Jackson was hacked down in midfield.
On 27 minutes Leamington went in front with a sublime strike from Stuart Herlihy. The midfield powerhouse rarely scores simple goals, and this one was anything but, as he took on a pass from Jai Stanley, spotted keeper Michael Underwood off his line, and sent in an outrageous chip that dropped under the crossbar into the net.
The celebrations among the travelling contingent had hardly died down before Chesham were back on level terms. Luke Corbett was tracking back in defence, and gave away a penalty on the right side of the penalty area. Opinion was divided on the terraces as to how harsh it was, but that was irrelevant, as the Generals top scorer Danny Burnell dispatched the spot kick to level the scores.
Leamington continued to look threatening when they kept the ball on the ground and attacked their hosts, and James Husband, shot over from wide on the left. Luke Corbett played a good cross into the area, but it was cut out. Burnell then went in late on Kiely in the Leamington penalty area, but did not receive so much as a talking to from the match official.
The game was very fragmented at this stage, with constant breaks in play preventing either side from building attacks by keeping possession for more than a few seconds. The ball was also spending an alarming amount of time in the air, but both sides showed that when they got it down, they were both capable of playing good football. There were few no clear cut scoring chances for either side after the goals, but Luke Corbett shot over after receiving a fine pass from midfield.
The flow of the game continued to be disrupted as the second half got underway. The home fans were shouting for a penalty when Danny Burnell lofted a high ball towards strike partner Cox in the area, and the assistant referee's were certainly kept busy during the half, as James Husband was played clear by Mark Bellingham, only to be stopped in his tracks by an offside flag. Husband then returned the favour, taking on a clever flick from Luke Corbett and releasing Bellingham, but the result was the same.
Chris Kiely kept his side on level terms when he reacted quickly to what looked like a deflected shot, and did well to push the ball over his crossbar. Chesham were having a good spell at this stage, and saw plenty of the ball, but Brakes were resilient, and clawed their way back into proceedings. James Husband displayed some brilliant close control out on the left touchline, and beat his marker to roll the ball into the area for Mark Bellingham, who spun across a covering defender, but his shot was put behind for a corner, from which Guy Sanders powered a header towards goal. The ball struck a defender in the face, and was subsequently scrambled to safety.
Husband then skipped over a challenge and accelerated down the left, sending an inviting ball into the centre which was missed by everyone. The home side were creating opportunities of their own, however, and Burnell, who is in direct competition with Bellingham for the top scorers crown in the Midland Division, ran at the Brakes defence. He had some work to do, but he rode a couple of challenges and took the ball past Kiely, but his shot lacked power, and Guy Sanders was on hand to clear away from the goal line.
Jason Cadden introduced fresh legs in the shape of Mykel Beckley and Chris Murphy as the game entered its final stages. Beckley shot over the bar shortly after coming on. There were a few scary moments when it looked like the home side might break through, but Guy Sanders in particular was very composed under threat, and he looks to be back to his best.
The winning goal arrived sixteen minutes from time, and was inadvertently set up by a Chesham player, who lost possession in midfield. The ball was pounced on by Mark Bellingham who raced towards goal with a defender at his heels. He seemed to take an age to shoot, but when he did, there was only going to be one outcome.
The goal galvanised Brakes, and they continued to attack, but Sanders was on hand once again to clear the danger, as Darrell Cox threatened. Jai Stanley won a free kick close to the touchline on the right. The ball was only half cleared to Chris Murphy outside the area, and he fed it back to Stanley, whose cross found Bellingham, but his shot was smothered well by Michael Underwood. James Husband sent a cross onto the roof of the net, but as the game moved into injury time, Chesham pushed for an equaliser. There was a heart in mouth moment right at the death, when the Generals were awarded a free kick on the right hand side of the area, well within striking distance, but Chris Kiely sprang to his left to save the shot and preserve the three hard earned points for Leamington. The whole team had to dig deep for this result, against a good side who could yet be in the promotion picture, come the end of the season.
Chesham United: Michael Underwood, Andy Keepence [C] (Leon Archer, 84), Sam Ledger, Lewis Laws, Danny Talbot, John Kyriacou, Kevin Cotton (Dom Marsala, 75), Danny Gudgeon (Nick Leach, 51), Danny Burnell, Darrell Cox, Josh Cooper.
Subs not used: Gary Sippetts, Steve Cawley.
Leamington: Chris Kiely, Marcus Jackson, Ryan Parisi (Martin Hier, 19), Adam Cooper, Guy Sanders [C], Stuart Herlihy, Steve Palmer (Chris Murphy, 77), Jai Stanley, Luke Corbett (Mykel Beckley, 72), Mark Bellingham, James Husband.