Sat, 02 Aug 2008 @ The Cuthbury, Wimborne. vs Wimborne Town (0-4). Pre-Season Friendly. By D Hucker. The Brakes travelling faithfull, who made up a noisy and sizeable number within the respectable crowd of 210, had little to cheer as Brakes crashed to Wessex League side Wimborne Town.
With Jamie Towers, Martin Hier, Liam Reynolds and Mark Bellingham all missing from the line-up that started the previous match at Stratford, this was a much changed Brakes side that travelled to Dorset.
Adam Cooper was captain for the day and triallist, Sean Brown, got the nod in the number 2 shirt. Other new faces were Carl Fellows, who had played at Solihull at the same time as coach Morton Titterton and Warwickshire Academy and former Racing Club Warwick youth team player, George Curry.
It was asking a lot to pitch the new players into battle with a good Wimborne side that had seen off British Gas Business Premier Bashley 4-2 in a previous friendly. Curry grew in confidence as the match progressed and looked sharp in the second half, but it was an uphill struggle for Brakes not helped by the loss of influencial midfielder Steve Palmer after only three minutes with a knee injury.
The home side went ahead after just six minutes when the lively Dan Gibbons picked up a pass down the right and cut into the penalty area before slamming the ball past an exposed Richard Morris. Central defender, Tom Hall, had a chance to double the lead in the 28th minute, but his header from a free-kick by Christo Warren went wide of the far post.
Another Warwickshire Academy player, Sam Monocherry, came on for Brown at the start of the second half, but Brakes soon found themselves two goals down as Kevin James somehow bent his shot around Cooper in the 48th minute and past Morris.
Dean Pennells, who has been training with the squad for some months, took the field for the second time, replacing Morris in the 61st minute and looked secure in dealing with the Wimborne pressure. He had no chance with a shot from Scott Joyce on 75 minutes that hit the underside of the bar and appeared to have bounced away from the goal, but the referee deemed it to have crossed the line.
Wimborne substitute 'keeper, Dan Ackerman punted a long ball up the field which bounced high and over Pennell's head for the fourth with a minute remaining to give the home side a 4-0 win.
Chances were few and far between for Brakes and, apart from a shot by Shay Morgan that was blocked, they never looked like scoring in the second half. After a bright start in the first three matches, the goals have dried up and, as a result, the defence has come under pressure too often.
A number of Brakes players became frustrated at some of the referring decisions and Stacey (50 minutes), Fellows (52) and Titterton (53) were booked for dissent. To make matters worse, Ryan Parisi was sent off with seconds remaining.
Despite the result, manager Jason Cadden was not downbeat after the match saying:
It was a good work-out and I am not too worried by the result. We still have two matches to go and plenty of time to get back on track. Their first goal was off-side and the third didn't cross the line, so the result was a bit flattering.
Wimborne Town Alan Walker-Harris (Dan Ackerman 76), Scott Arnold (Pete Smith 59), Ollie Phillipson-Masters, Christo Warren [Capt.] (Dan Cann 70), Tom Hall, Sam Percival (Mark Jones 61), Sean Smith, Liam Green, James Stokoe (Scott Joyce 72), Dan Gibbons (Steve Whitcher 61), Kevin James (Dave Lawrence 76)
Brakes Richard Morris (Dean Pennells 61), Sean Brown (Sam Monocherry 46), Guy Sanders, Adam Cooper [Capt.], Neil Stacey (Dean Aston 55), Carl Fellows, Steve Palmer (Morton Titterton 3), George Curry, Luke Corbett, Shay Morgan, Ryan Parisi