Adams Apple Of the Eye As Brakes Lay the Feckenham Curse In Style

Brakes laid the curse, slayed the dragon, and any other metaphors you can think of, by picking off bogey team Feckenham in a powerful display of attacking football that had an estimated crowd of 130 baying with excitement and, mostly, delight. Feckenham are the only team to have done the double over the new Brakes, last season, and they play in green; four out of six defeats last season were to teams in green.

This was an excellent all-round, team performance. Herlihy pounced in the 20th and Richard Adams made it 2-0 in the 33rd. A Feckenham goal in the 36th put Brakes on the back foot for a while but that man Richard Adams set up Blake for a brilliant goal in the 59th, 3-1, before adding his second and Brakes 4th in the 90th.

Within six minutes Brakes could have been ahead as, first, Blake hit the top of the bar then the unluckiest man on the pitch, Leon Morgan, had a delicate chip just tipped over then headed the resulting corner against the bar. In the 9th Blake scuffed his shot when through on goal. When Feckenham moved upfield the towering Tank controlled the airspace and Walker ran the width of the pitch to mop up anything loose. With Webb and Ben Adams closing down any threat this was another very solid defensive performance.

Morgan had a strike well saved and Richard Adams powered into the area to send a fierce cross-shot across the goal, just evading the far corner, as the fans grew concerned that with all these chances in the first 1/4 hour there was no product. Then, as so often, Herlihy took control, like a man on a mission, pouncing on a loose ball to run at the defence and smash home an unstoppable shot in the 20th minute, 0-1. Within two minutes Richard Adams sped past the defenders and, unselfishly, slipped the ball inside to Blake who tried to side-step the 'keeper only to see a long arm snake out to grab the ball.

But the expected second goal came when, after more good work from Herlihy, the influential Morgan slipped a pass into the path of Steve Thompson who struck the intersection of bar and post with a powerful drive. With the Feckenham defence in disarray Richard Adams drove in the rebound for 0-2 in the 33rd. With Brakes well on top Feckenham broke away and slotted home to make it 1-2 in the 36th, maybe as a result of a loss of concentration after Brakes had been so dominant.

Leon Morgan, who is so effective as a target man, had been limping for a while with a dead leg and was replaced within a minute of the restart when he realised that he couldn't run it off. The first 10 minutes of the second half was Feckenham's best spell as their self-belief grew. It wasn't one-sided though as the game swung from end-to-end. Both Blake and Richard Adams had shots on goal but Feckenham had their chances and Morris had to make a very good, diving save to turn the ball round in the 54th. Then the comfort zone was restored when Richard Adams threaded through a perfect, defence-splitting pass and Blake lifted the ball superbly over the advancing 'keeper for 1-3 in the 59th.

This was now a game full of incident but with some very good football on the big pitch which seemed to suit the nippy Brakes more than the home team. The crowd oohd and aahd as the forwards threatened to break through time after time. Anderson and Howell buzzed around the Feckenham area like bees in a bed of clover, a Webb header after good work by Timms was close and several times Richard Adams was caught offside. When Feckenham broke the defence held firm and, in the 69th, Anderson managed to go close at the Feckenham end then make a saving tackle in front of his own goal. Howell ran half the length of the pitch in the 74th but couldn't get enough power on the final shot.

Feckenham had a dangerous forward line that was not matched by their defence and Brakes were doing a superb job of keeping the ball away from danger. There was some frustration in the Feckenham ranks as Brakes kept up the pressure and Howell received a yellow for retaliation near the end. But, undeterred, as the 90th minute passed he ran strongly at the defence, slipping a pass to Richard Adams who drove home his second, and Brakes fourth, for an emphatic final scoreline of 1-4.

Leamington: Richard Morris; Glen Webb; Ben Adams; Simon Walker; Darran Tank; Darren Timms (Mark Anderson 60); Stuart Herlihy; Leon Morgan (Chris Hanrahan 46); Josh Blake; Richard Adams; Steve Thompson [Capt] (Ryan Howell 65)
Subs Not Used: None

Team News: Niels Kristensen still having knee problems; Martin Thompson back training next week; Tom Friend suspension; Leon Morgan dead leg but misses Monday's game anyway (and most mid-week games) because of work shift patterns; Steve Smith back from injury "in 10 days"; David Care, Harj Dhesi and Mark Delaney getting match-fit with Daventry Town.