Sat, 04 Apr 2009 @ The New Windmill Ground. vs Rothwell Town (1-0). British Gas Business Southern League Midland Division. By P Edwards.
On a day when an underdog took the honours in the Grand National, Rothwell Town visited the New Windmill Ground, and so nearly added a no score draw to the away win they claimed at Nuneaton earlier in the season. Lessons had clearly been learned from the reverse fixture at Cecil Street, when Brakes had netted three inside the first sixteen minutes, on their way to a 6-0 win. It was evident early on that a similar scoreline would not be forthcoming in this fixture.
With the same eleven that had started the previous game at Atherstone, Leamington started the game brightly, but this soon fizzled out, as the visitors set out their stall to frustrate. Luke Corbett fired an early effort inches wide, and Guy Sanders lashed a wild effort over following a corner. Jai Stanley took a free kick from out on the left touchline, but his spinning effort was claimed on the six yard line by keeper Alex Malong.
David Glass made some darting runs for his side, and played in Mbeybe Madine, but the striker poked a hurried effort well wide. The Bones were grateful to their keeper for keeping them on terms when Malong saved well at the feet of Corbett, following a shot from Liam Reynolds. Michael Boyle-Chong forced a corner with a quick shot, and team mate Kevin Byrne was cautioned for twice lunging in on Marcus Jackson as the pair battled for possession. Malong moved confidently from his line to claim the resulting free kick. It was evident that with every passing minute without conceding, the Rothwell keeper was growing in stature, but he began to get the backs of the New Windmill Ground crowd up by taking as long as possible with his kicking, and disputing the slightest decision against his team.
Jai Stanley shot wide after some neat link up play with Corbett, but Leamington were struggling to fashion any meaningful attempts on the Rothwell goal. Their best effort of the half came from a decent ball from the left by Martin Hier, which Luke Corbett glanced just wide. However, it was an outstanding piece of goalkeeping from Chris Kiely that kept the scores level before half time, as he stuck out a hand to push the ball away from Mbeybe Madine, despite being grounded as the striker attempted to move in on goal. Immediately after this, Kiely looked to be stranded as Michael Boyle-Chong attempted to chip the ball over him, but the shot went wide.
Mark Bellingham was heavily marked again during this game, sometimes over zealously, but despite this he still managed to get in the first shot of the second half, which Malong saved. Stuart Herlihy was somewhat unsighted as he knocked a shot wide, and Mykel Beckley was introduced to add pace to the attack, with his runs creating an extra problem for the visitors. Marcus Jackson put in another tireless performance, taking countless knocks for the team, and he won a free kick which looked very close to being inside the penalty area on the right hand side, but the dead ball was flighted over the bar by Martin Hier.
Rothwell began to test the patience of the officials with their tactics, and Danny Marlow was cautioned, having been substituted after going down injured, for his decision to walk across the pitch back to the bench, rather than around it as he had been asked to. Mykel Beckley slammed a shot over from a promising position, before Alex Malong took his time with one goal kick too many, and was also booked. Substitute Chris Murphy hooked a shot over from another good position, and saw another shot well saved following a cross in from Jackson. The tension from the sidelines appeared to be filtering through to the players, and while there was little threat to Chris Kiely's goal, the killer ball was lacking at the opposite end. Another shot from Murphy was put behind, and the resulting corner saw an almighty melee in the six yard box. Bobbie White had gone down injured long before the ball was eventually thrashed into the net by Guy Sanders, and it was unclear whether the Referee had blown up for what he claimed was a push, before the ball hit the net, but with time rapidly running out, his decision infuriated players and supporters alike.
It appeared that the game might be up following that incident, but mercifully, there was enough time for the pivotal moment in what was a poor game, to take place. In the 89th minute, the ball was moved across to Liam Reynolds outside the box, and his low shot looked to have been claimed by Malong, only for the keeper to undo all of his previous good work by spilling the ball to Bellingham, who was onto it in a flash, dispatching the ball into the net from close range to spark wild celebrations on and off the pitch. It is unlikely a goal has been celebrated so much on the North Bank since Andy Gregory smashed in a shot in the last minute to beat Highgate United, back in the Midland Alliance title winning season. There was a sense that justice had been done, due to what had gone on during that game, and the same seemed to apply today. The remaining moments were almost entirely played out in the Rothwell half, and the final whistle was greeted with a mixture of jubilation and relief. It is to be hoped that the long trip to Bury this Tuesday is just as fruitful, but that we see a better game to go with it. Hopefully this result will galvanise the team, as a draw would have given Nuneaton and Atherstone Town fresh hope of overhauling Leamington in the final straight.
Leamington: Chris Kiely, Marcus Jackson, Ryan Parisi, Guy Sanders [C], Martin Hier Josh Blake, 81), Liam Reynolds, Stuart Herlihy, Jai Stanley (Mykel Beckley, 58), Luke Corbett (Chris Murphy, 70), Mark Bellingham, James Husband.
Subs not used: Steve Palmer, Richard Anstiss.
Rothwell Town: Alex Malong, Mark Hackett, David Glass, Robbie Maddox, Martin Flannigan [C], Bobbie White, Sam Maude (Fazel Koriya, 70), Michael Boyle-Chong, Kevin Byrne, Mbeybe Madine, Danny Marlow (Shaun Goodhall, 70).
Subs not used: Ali Whiltshire, Gregg Mcilwain, Stuart Dorrill.