Cast of "Thousands" at the NWG

No attempt to report on all those who played; I'd get it wrong. At half-time a young supporter asked which team was coming on the pitch as the other two teams went off. Answer: as well as providing players for the Warwickshire County side Leamington managed to field two totally different sides, the gold and blacks in the first half and all whites in the second, as well as substitutes. This is both a tribute to the strength of our squad and a nightmare for this (very) amateur reporter. It was good to see so many people there as well. There follows a vague attempt at a summary at least.

The one shortage that Leamington have is in goalkeepers so, with Van der Heyden sick, Gary Moore made his full debut, a baptism of fire against an obviously very strong representative XI. Initially, Brakes, trying a new system as well as several players who haven't played for a while, were all over the place. Goals in the 2nd and 8th minutes put County 0-2 up and a defeat of England cricket XI proportions loomed. But, to their immense credit, Brakes fought their way back to play on equal terms with the County XI to change round at still 0-2.

In the second half Brakes started to play the better football and equalised through a Chris Lewis penalty in the 54th and a looping shot from the excellent Alex Shaw in the 59th, 2-2. This reporter is far too decrepit to be beaten up by anyone young and fit so I can only repeat that the very excellent Alex Shaw scored a truly excellent goal that everyone thought was, erm, excellent. And good to see Chris Lewis back and playing so well after his long absence with a shattered knee-cap.

This was now a fine game and young Gary Moore made some good saves which must help his confidence. Both sides welcomed the game as a good work-out for teams starved of competitive football before big games. In the 69th and 79th County ran through to score two good goals and scored again, after a defensive error, just before the final whistle to make the final result look far worse than it was. And I believe that a Neil Stacey scored for them and one Josh Tolley was a bit good; but we don't mention the other team's players' names, usually.

Leamington Youth: Everyone at some time or another excepting James Harri (working), Lee van der Heyden (sick) and our players playing for them.