Brakes edge nearer title at York Road as Roms stumble

York Road was no place for the faint-hearted as the wind whistled down the pitch and the constant hum of the M5 motorway provided competition for the vocal cords of the Brakes faithful who made up most of Oldbury's largest crowd of the season.

In the end, this was a job well done and the three-goal margin was a fair reflection of the superiority of the league leaders over a mostly young, but enthusiastic Oldbury side. The icing on the cake was the news that Alvechurch had held second-place Romulus to a 1-1 draw, meaning that Brakes need just three more wins from the final seven matches to clinch the title and hoped-for return to the BGB Southern League.

Captain Liam Newall, Craig Gregg and substitute 'keeper Gareth Massey were the only three players remaining from the side that Brakes beat comfortably 4-1 at the New Windmill at the end of October. Despite all the changes, Brakes were always in control, although Newall ran his heart out and 'keeper Bartosz Smolak played his part making good saves from Adam Knight in the 50th minute and substitute Dave Pearson in the 80th to prevent the margin being greater.

The statistics show that Avun Jephcott, given the nod in the absence of leading scorer Ben Mackey, bagged the first goal on 29 minutes after Stuart Herlihy had guided Jamie Towers' inswinging corner into the goalmouth. Strike partner Martin Thompson got the second in the 36th minute after Smolak dropped Towers' cross. The scoring was completed on 88 minutes when Towers stole in from the right to head home Herlihy's cross from the left with the Oldbury defence static.

Richard Morris in the Brakes goal had a quiet afternoon and did not make a save of any consequence until thwarting Matthew Gardener in the 65th minute.

Towers had a storming match, being the provider of two goals and the scorer of the third. Also, the back three of Martin Hier, Adam Knight and Andy Gregory were again outstanding in what was the fifth clean sheet in the last six matches. Captain Morton Titterton lead by example and any one of them could easily have qualified for the Man of the Match accolade.

However, Jephcott moved effortlessly from the left wing-back position he occupied in the 0-0 draw at Atherstone last Tuesday to successfully fill the huge gap left by Mackey and score his third goal for the club. He might have had another on 54 minutes netting after more good work by Towers, but the referee disallowed the efforts for climbing on a defender.

Martin Hier was booked in the 11th minute for a tackle on Gardener and Oldbury's Nicky Pugh also had a yellow card for a foul on debutant Liam Reynolds who required treatment within five minutes of taking the field and limped for some time afterwards.

A satisfied manager, Jason Cadden, said "This was a workmanlike performance in difficult conditions. We dug in and I was very please with the way that we took our chances. That's 29 wins and 90 points now which, in normal circumstances, would win a league. However, we have to stay focussed until Romulus can't catch us and the title is won."

Oldbury United Bartosz Smolak; Chris Porter; Lee Dimmock; Liam Newall [Capt.]; Craig Frost; Matthew Whitehouse; (Danny Hemmings 61); Jakob Smolak; Matthew Gardener; Craig Gregg (Earl Grant 75); Nicky Pugh; Danny Yearwood
Subs Not Used Luke Darby; Alex Parrott; Gareth Massey

Leamington Richard Morris; Jamie Towers; Martin Hier; Adam Knight; Andy Gregory; Morton Titterton [Capt.]; Stuart Herlihy; Jon Adams (Liam Reynolds); Avun Jephcott; Martin Thompson (Dave Pearson 68); James Husband (Tom James 81)
Subs Not Used Craig Dutton; Adam Cooper

Attendance 245

Author's Man of the Match Avun Jephcott