Brakes Choked by Last Gasp Studley Strike

This was desperately cruel for Brakes who went 1-0 down in the 59th minute but finally made their territorial dominance pay with a Martin Thompson equaliser after four minutes of added time. With extra time beckoning, and Brakes looking the stronger side in the muddy conditions, Studley snatched the winner before another minute had passed matching Leamington's wild celebrations of only 60 seconds, but an age, earlier.

The crowd of 755 paying customers was a new record for Studley, with about a further 40 complementaries. Studley go into the draw for the last 16 and Brakes must now pick themselves up and ensure that they will play in the Alliance next season where, on this showing, they could do well enough to emulate Studley who are likely promotion candidates. In the league Rugby Town lost at Pershore and Sphinx drew with Meir to give further encouragement to a very good Brakes' side who have done exceedingly well to reach the last 32.

The pitch was soft and, in places, the ball stopped dead after a lot of rain recently but, thankfully, the rain held off during the match though I'll swear to seeing a few flakes of snow. At times there was quite a strong, blustery wind, which made a bitter day feel even colder, but it was intermittent and favoured neither side.

There was little good football but plenty of passion in the opening stages. Studley had more possession but, when Leamington broke away, Blake's speed was causing concern in the Studley defence. In the 5th minute the large contingent of Brakes' fans in a record 755 crowd went wild when Blake appeared to have scored, but the linesman's flag had been up for offside for a while. Studley nearly broke hearts in the 10th after good work by Duncan but 'keeper Morris made a very good save, tipping the ball over the bar, and the resulting corner was cleared off the line.

With Walker, back to his best, dominating the defence, Brakes started to come more into the game. Sleem was magnificent up front, his control, power and slick passing with foot or head, a delight to see. Blake, a totally different style, was battling as hard as I've ever seen him and was obviously viewed, by Studley, as a danger man as he always seemed to have two markers. Twice, in the first 20 minutes, he looked like scoring and Sleem, after good work by Simmonds, had a chance foiled by the sticky surface. What was lacking was a sharp-shooter to put the chances away.

Timms showed a remarkable turn of speed on the half hour, running through the Studley defence like a hot knife through butter, but to no avail and, shortly after, Morris made another excellent stop to save the day. Simmonds was buzzing in midfield and Sleem and Blake both went close as an entertaining half ended at 0-0 with honours fairly even. But Studley's danger-men, Crisp and Marshall were quick, strong and skilful, and promised danger in the 2nd half.

And so it proved. Brakes started the second half in fine style. Blake sped down the wing in the 49th and Steve Thompson set up Simmonds in the 52nd for a strike that was just beaten away by the experienced Studley 'keeper. But, with Brakes on top at this stage, Crisp made it 1-0 for Studley in the 59th minute, smashing the ball in the roof of the Leamington net after the ball was flicked on to him following a corner on the left. Blake ran into the area minutes later, foiled by a last ditch tackle, then Sleem nearly put Blake through as Brakes fought back. But Morris made a truly stupendous, Banks from Pele type save, in between these two events, as the second half blossomed into a memorable contest with Brakes having more possession and playing the better football but Studley having the better chances.

In the 67th minute Martin Thompson came on for Steve Thompson to try to add that final missing ingredient. Within a minute he had a shot on goal, but it was weak and easily gathered though he was getting past defenders on the right with promising regularity. Timms nearly put him through, clear on goal, in the 71st but it was Sleem who had the best chance in this spell as he powered into the area but passed across goal when he might have shot though it was a tight angle.

With all three substitutes on Brakes battered the Studley goal for that elusive equaliser that would take the match into extra time. In the final minute of normal time the ball was somehow kept out but then, in the 90th minute, with 94 showing on the clock, Martin Thompson latched on to a through ball out of a ruck of players, ran on and drove home a magnificent and joyous goal, 1-1. Fans and players erupted in scenes of wild celebration; extra time seemed assured and, with Brakes undoubtedly the stronger side by now, final victory seemed likely. But Brakes were reminded, in the cruellest fashion, of the old adage about it "not being over until ..." when, with 95 just coming up on the clock, Vaughan Thomas notched the winner, 2-1, for Studley to have their turn at wild celebrations as the final whistle followed almost immediately and Brakes' players slumped to the ground in despair and disbelief.

Yet, whilst we can always muse on what might have been, Brakes have done exceptionally well to get this far. And Studley are on a winning streak that should, soon, see them top the table and win promotion to the Dr Martins. It is such a cliche to talk about "concentrating on the league" but that must be Brakes' primary aim this season and form has dipped at times with another "big cup match" looming. They can be proud of this display and, maybe (hard though it is to accept), Studley perhaps just deserved to win despite Brakes' greater possession as they had that killer punch and more real chances. The Studley "spies" who watched the home defeat by Feckenham said, then, that they thought we'd more than hold our own in the Alliance. After this performance I think that more of us are really starting to believe it.

Sadly there was a bitter aftermath when a (small) section of the crowd chanted "Cheat, Cheat" as the match ended. I've no doubt that these are fans; they are certainly fanatics. But if they consider themselves Leamington supporters I would beg to differ. Supporters hold up their side when they are down and lift them to even greater heights when do well. That's what the word means. "Fans" like these, with their misplaced enthusiasms, and child-like inabilities to accept defeat without blaming somebody, drag down a club and undermine support. This was a noble performance by Leamington and two very good sides fought a close contest on a well-organised occasion with "if onlys" on both sides. We were rightly proud of our team, proud of our magnificent support and, though bitterly disappointed with the result, felt that we were part of something that our opponents and any neutrals there could admire. Yet some spoke of "feeling ashamed to be Leamington supporters" afterwards because of these few.

Leamington: Richard Morris; Jonny Burgess (Stuart Herlihy 82); Simon Walker; Tom Sidwell; Andy Gregory; Darren Timms; Barry Shearsby; Mark Simmonds; Vernor Sleem (Ryan Parisi 86); Josh Blake; Steve Thompson [Capt] (Martin Thompson 67)
Subs Not Used (3 From 5 Allowed): Harj Dhesi; Anthony Episcopo

Studley: Daniel Lewis; Vaughan Thomas; Ian Wood; Ian Mitchell, Aaron Brown; Mark Beddowes [Capt]; Andrew Johnson (Adam Blake 60); Steve Duncan; Mark Crisp (Marlon Sylvester 80); Ricardo Marshall (Matthew Coppin 85); Mark Neath
Studley Subs Not Used (3 From 5 Allowed): Andrew Grubb; Ashley Palisciano

Leamington Team News: Paul Nicholls, David Care, Andy Biffin, Chris Hanrahan there at least walking.