By David Hucker

Thriller at the New Windmill

Two goals down after 54 minutes, Leamington stormed back to snatch victory with only four minutes to go against Coventry rivals Massey Ferguson. To the delight of a packed North Bank, two goals from Paul Nicholls and one from defender Tom Sidwell saw Brakes notch their fifth win in six Premiership outings.

In a change from Saturday's team, Glen Webb dropped back into the defence to allow Nick Mort into the starting line-up. Brakes had plenty of possession in the first half against a young and skilful visiting side, with the best chance falling after sixteen minutes when Brian Agar took the ball off a defender only to see his shot tipped over the bar. As half-time approached, midfielder Darren Timms was harshly judged to have handled the ball and Massey's Jez Carpenter sent goalkeeper Myles Day the wrong way to score from the penalty spot.

With the 410 strong crowd shouting for an equaliser, the visitors went further ahead nine minutes into the second half when John Woodhouse sent a curling shot from outside the penalty area through a mass of players beyond Day's reach. At 2-0 down, Brakes faced an uphill struggle but two substitutions turned the tide in their favour. Ben Adams, who looks a player of real class, came on for Darren Timms and then, crucially, Josh Blake was added to the attack in exchange for defender Mark Rowland.

The first chink in the Massey armour came on 62 minutes when Tom Sidwell headed in a Steve Thompson cross. Then Blake nearly equalised when he latched onto a throw from Adams to turn and see his goal-bound shot finger-tipped round the post. It was another Blake effort that rebounded off a defender into the path of Paul Nicholls to level the scores on 74 minutes and set up a grandstand finish.

Further drama unfolded in the eighty-third minute when Massey were reduced to ten men in an incident that saw Brakes awarded a penalty. However, in an otherwise good performance, Nick Mort sent his kick over the bar seemingly to spell the end of Brakes' hopes of winning. However, Nicholls had other ideas as he met a cross form the excellent Adams to score his second and Brakes' winner with only four minutes remaining on the clock.

A pulsating match that had joint-manager Jason Cadden purring with delight. "We were below par in the first half and only came to life when they scored their second goal. The substitutions allowed us to switch to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation. We showed good character to come back but, if we are not to be punished in this division, we need to start playing well right from the off."

Leamington: Myles Day, Glen Webb, Simon Walker, Tom Sidwell, Mark Rowland (Josh Blake 59), Daz Timms (Ben Adams 55), Nick Mort, Chris Hammond, Brian Agar (Baz Shearsby 85), Paul Nicholls, Steve Thompson [Capt.]

Team News: Mark Rowland is on holiday from Monday then misses the Barrow FA Vase match with a one week ban.