By Roger Vincent

Moon Lightens the Task but Lucky Leamington Need Care

If the mark of a great team is to win when playing badly then Leamington are a great team. But 402 fans at the New Windmill may need more convincing as woeful Leamington finally overcame a battling Thimblemill in extra time. 2-0 down to strikes in the 10th and 48th, Brakes pulled back through Perry in the 51st and equalised through Thompson in the 73rd with Thimblemill down to 10 men after a glimpse of the moon in the 60th. Thimblemill received another red card in the 85th, but the 9 men were the next to score before Sidwell notched his first for Brakes in the 105th and Care scored, also his first, in the 119th to give Leamington the lead for the first time adding another within a minute.

A cold but sunny day, with little wind, seemeed perfect for football. The pitch, which caused so many problems last season, looked lush and green and a good crowd, for a pre-Christmas cup game with an early kick-off, purred in pleasurable anticipation after the 8-1 away win last Saturday.

Starting with the same players as the previous game, for the first time that I recall, Brakes showed early threat and forced three corners which were scrambled clear. But it was Thimblemill who played the better football and looked more dangerous and, in the 10th, they took a deserved lead when a ball swung over from the right was knocked in from close range, 0-1. Thimblemill were passing the ball around, unlike Brakes who were relying on individual runs or long balls knocked up front.

A powerful Webb run forced a corner in the 20th from which Webb missed in front of goal and Timms hit a post minutes later but Brakes were not functioning as a unit. There seemed little cohesion and, surprisingly given recent results, little self-belief. The frustration was compounded by an astonishing number of stoppages that broke up any momentum.

For once the half-time "talk" had no effect as Thimblemill brought a brilliant diving save from Morris from the kick-off then went further ahead in the 48th when a cross from the left bypassed a despairing, defensive lunge and was driven home, 0-2. But the breakthrough came in the 51st when, after good work by Ariss, a Thompson corner from the right was driven home by Perry from close range, 1-2.

Then, in the 60th, Thimblemill pressed the self-destruct button. Ray Clague indulged in some idle banter with the North Bank during yet another, interminable stoppage but made the mistake of adding a "social comment" by mooning at the crowd in full view of the referee and was shown red. Rejuvenated Brakes started to come into the game more and Webb was unlucky when a powerful header was cleared off the line. Care came on for Shearsby in the 68th for his first home appearance and in the 73rd Brakes drew level with a brilliant Thompson goal when he cut inside, played a one-two with Perry and, triumphantly, drove home, 2-2.

Care was showing a vigour and spirit that his team-mates lacked on the day and Perry and Sidwell went close before, in the 85th, Thompson, again, sprinted past the defence towards goal only to be held back by the last defender on the edge of the box, a "professional" foul that earned a mandatory, red card. Dhesi came on for Timms, drove the free kick at the goalkeeper and Thimblemill broke away to force a diving save from Morris.

In the 1st minute of extra time Thimblemill's 9 men went ahead again as Brakes lost the ball and an attacker ran straight through the middle to drive home, 2-3. A brilliant save from Morris denied Thimblemill further advantage as they threw away the coaching manual and attacked rather than pack their defence which had the added advantage of increasing the offside decisions against Brakes. Dix replaced Perry on 102 minutes and the impressive Care had a shot turned round for a corner at the end of the 1st period which Dhesi took, an inswinger headed home by Sidwell for his 1st Brakes' goal, 3-3.

Finally the numerical advantage started to bear fruit as brave Thimblemill ran out of steam in the second period of extra time. With the prospect of a penalty shoot-out in the gathering gloom Thompson ran half the length of the pitch to bring a good save before Care, with his first goal for the club, drove an angled shot into the far corner in the 119th, 4-3, followed within a minute by another as he ran onto a through ball, brilliantly slipping past a defender and driving a powerful shot past the goalkeeper, 5-3. Incredibly, Care then broke through and nearly scored again; but even the North Bank might have felt a little sorry for Thimblemill if that had happened (I said might) as they deserved to win on the day and Brakes are fortunate indeed to be in the semi-final of the President's Cup.

Leamington: Richard Morris, Kevin Ariss, Will Payne, Tom Sidwell, Liam McGovern, Darren Timms (Harj Dhesi 85), Nick Mort, Glen Webb, Neale Perry (Andrew Dix 102), Barry Shearsby (David Care 68), Steve Thompson [Capt.]

Team news: Brian Agar is still injured but hopes to be back soon. Benson Miyoba is on holiday as is Josh Blake. Harj Dhesi received his player of the month award for October from the Friends.