By Roger Vincent

Brakes Leave the Garage to Stop Willenhall

More than a few "elderly" fans travelled by team coach to this one and had to endure the youth team's choice of tape which, I believe, was "garage" music. With veiled threats of finding a Mantovani tape for the return journey if the team didn't do the business we stumbled, thankfully, into a dank, Black Country evening to find a near-perfect pitch, good stands (with no holes), good seats (whole), and floodlights that lit the pitch and not the sky.

The good, even surface on a wide pitch seemed to suit Brakes who stroked the ball around to good effect for the first 20 minutes with little to show for it. Wilkinson and Collen were moving well and a sharp-looking Stacey curled a shot just high and wide after 5 minutes but there were few clear chances for either side in this period. With Lee Scott in commanding form in defence and goalkeeper Van der Heyden dominating his area, and beyond, the first half finished 0-0. But Willenhall had come back into the game and could have scored 3 times in 5 minutes around the half-hour mark with a header off the line and some desperate defending keeping them out.

Willenhall went ahead in the 54th when they played a short corner back on the left and the ball was knocked home from a curling cross, 1-0. They could have gone further ahead in the 58th and 60th when a superb run was not matched by the final shot and a close-range effort was, somehow, kept out. But then the Brakes' fight-back started with a period of sustained pressure complemented by some fresh legs with Matt Mellings replacing James Taylor in the 67th, and Grainger for Claridge and Tolley for Webster 2 minutes later.

In the 74th Brakes were rewarded with the equaliser when Stacey knocked home from close range after a Tolley shot was too hard for the goalie to hold, 1-1. Now followed a purple patch when Brakes played good, confident football, roared on by about 65 fans, so it was against the run of play when Van der Heyden had to rush from goal in added time after the 90 to retrieve a dangerous situation. Catching man and ball outside the box he was sent off as the "last man" and Brakes started extra time on the back foot down to 10 men and with sharp-shooter Stacey in goal.

But we reckoned without Tolley. In the 1st minute of extra time Tolley forced a corner, took it and the ball came out to the lanky defender Scott who drove it home, 1-2. Now the crowd bayed; Tolley was everywhere, left flank then right. Scott was superb, stopping everything and distributing well (surely a 1st team slot beckons soon), and Grainger and Wilkinson never stopped running. Into the second period of extra time and the game changed again. With the 10 men tiring, and cramp taking its toll, Willenhall fought for salvation and found striker Stacey in superb goalkeeping form between the sticks as he saved brilliantly on 2 occasions and dealt competently with everything that came near him.

The coach made good time coming back but it was after midnight before we hit Leamington. So the youth escaped Mantovani and, thankfully, were too tired for "garage". Just as well really; despite the fans' euphoria it would probably have lasted 21 seconds* at most.

Leamington: Lee van der Heyden, James Taylor (Matt Mellings 67), Stuart Poole, Tim Green, Lee Scott, James Mellings [Capt.], Paul Wilkinson, Ben Webster (Josh Tolley 69), Jimmy Claridge (Neil Grainger 69), Neil Stacey, Nick Collen

* In-joke for those on the coach; come to the youth matches and we'll tell you