Shearsby Brace in Brakes Star Performance at Continental

Brakes gained sweet revenge in the mud for a 5-3 drubbing at the New Windmill on the hard, August surface and completely dominated the first half with goals from Timms, Shearsby and Adams. Playing uphill in the second half Brakes conceded a soft, early goal as Star looked more threatening. But a 35yd screamer from Shearsby in the 59th for his second goal settled the nerves and, though Star matched Brakes in the second half, scoring a second in the 82nd minute, Brakes rarely looked like being pulled back. This was a convincing and hard-working display on an uneven pitch, a perfect antidote to last Tuesday's collapse against Castle Vale.

Brakes applied early pressure to shake a side that may have been expecting a repeat of the match at the New Windmill in August when I wrote that they had introduced "Premiership reality" to Brakes. Brakes were stronger and quicker and both Adams and Shearsby went close in the first ten minutes before Brakes took a deserved lead 0-1 in the 13th when Timms swept the ball into the net from a Shearsby pass following an Ellis free kick. The pitch was very muddy in the middle and uneven as befits a pitch shared by four sides. An uneven slope with a brisk wind gave Brakes, playing downhill with the wind, a clear first half advantage.

Continental were making hard work of it in attack which was just as well as there were holes in the Brakes' defence that are usually filled by the unwell Walker. But Sidwell was coping well and cleared off the line twice before Brakes went further ahead. In the 19th minute Shearsby made it 0-2 when he picked up a clearance and ran powerfully past a faltering defence before driving low and hard into the corner.

Blake was playing well on the left flank where he uses his speed to advantage and seems to be flourishing, perhaps released from the pressure of being expected to score in every game. In the 22nd minute he split the defence with a 40yd pass into the path of Nicholls. The chance was missed but this was a pass of such vision and skill that, especially considering the clinging conditions, it certainly augurs well for the future.

Shearsby skimmed the bar in the 33rd and Blake ran straight at goal, only to screw his shot just wide, in the 35th as Brakes took control. Dhesi was mopping up at the back and Gregory was showing his usual control and distribution. Then, in the 37th minute, the magnificent Adams made it 0-3, running 40yds to spring the offside trap and plant the ball in the corner. Continental were being outplayed and Ellis was just over in the 43rd after good work by Shearsby and Timms and Timms himself came close when set up by Adams with half-time imminent.

Mort came on for Ellis at the start of the second half. Within a minute Continental Star had pulled one back with a soft goal in the 47th to make it 1-3 with the defence napping. I'm afraid that it was so "out of nothing" that I wasn't even watching at the time and the explanation I got from others of what happened defies my descriptive powers. But, certainly, Star had their tails up and were a different team. The alarm bells jangled as this was now an even contest with Star having wind and slope advantage. Sidwell made a great saving tackle in the 52nd but the influential Shearsby settled the fans' nerves making it 1-4 in the 59th minute when he leant back and smacked a 35yd shot into the net with the Star goalie powerless and no obvious danger threatening.

Burgess went on a powerful run in the 62nd earning a Dhesi free kick which was just cleared and Blake, then Timms, went close before Brakes brought on their remaining substitutes including Paul Eden who has signed for Brakes again after a previous appearance as substitute earlier in the season. This had become a good, even, flowing game. Eden and Nicholls combined well in the 71st and, in the 81st, Eden got a shot on target after combining well with Adams and Nicholls but it was gathered safely by the Star goalkeeper. In the 82nd minute Star made it 2-4 with a superbly worked goal finishing with a chip over Gettings' head.

Mort, Eden and Adams combined to earn a corner in the 87th and Shearsby lashed an overhead kick just over a minute later. With the 90 minutes up Eden crossed well to set up Nicholls in front of goal but he went for glory with an attempted trick instead of doing the simple thing which may have added to his impressive goal tally.

Leamington: James Gettings, Jonny Burgess (Tom Saunders 70), Harj Dhesi, Tom Sidwell, Andy Gregory, Andy Ellis (Nick Mort 46), Barry Shearsby, Ben Adams, Darren Timms [Capt.] (Paul Eden 68), Paul Nicholls, Josh Blake

Team News: Chris Handrahan and Steve Thompson on holiday; Brian Agar and Ryan Parisi unavailable; Simon Walker unwell.