By David Hucker

Ten-Man Brakes Dig in Deep to Thwart Marconi

In a keenly fought contest with defences well on top, Brakes earned a draw against fifth-placed Coventry Marconi, despite playing with only ten men for two-thirds of the match.

There was no shortage of incidents for the 449 strong crowd to enjoy on a sunny Autumn afternoon at the New Windmill. In the early exchanges, Nick Mort was well to the fore, laying on a free kick for Glen Webb to go close with a header in the second minute and then helping out in defence by clearing off the line in the tenth.

However, the job of overcoming a Marconi defence that had only conceded five goals in eight previous matches became even harder in the thirty-third minute, when Baz Shearsby was sent off for an attempted head-butt in retaliation for a foul. Darren Timms dropped back into midfield leaving Paul Nicholls as the lone striker in an attack already weakened by the continuing absence of Josh Blake. Despite this handicap, Brakes almost went ahead two minutes before half-time when a cross from Steve Thompson was headed just wide by Nicholls.

Marconi were expected to take the game to the home side in the second half to make use of the extra player. However, they continued to pack the defence, seemingly as interested in not letting in a goal as scoring one. In the fifty-ninth minute, Thompson supplied a perfect corner for Tom Sidwell to head just wide and three minutes later did the same for Nicholls, who also just missed the target.

The Brakes defence held out against everything that Marconi threw at them, with Simon Walker, Andy Gregory and Sidwell all playing well. When they were beaten, Myles Day was a commanding figure in goal and is looking to be a very good signing. However, all could have gone wrong ten minutes from the end, but Marconi striker James Towers headed past the post with the goal at his mercy.

A good result in the end which keeps Brakes up with the leading pack. Five teams are beginning to detach themselves from the rest and there is little between them in points. Co-manager Jason Cadden acknowledged the whole team's performance which he described as "a battling display from everyone". He added that "we dug in deep for a point and the back three deserve praise for their fourth clean sheet on the trot".

Leamington: Myles Day, Ben Adams, Simon Walker, Tom Sidwell, Andy Gregory, Glen Webb, Nick Mort, Barry Shearsby, Darren Timms, Paul Nicholls (Brian Agar 74), Steve Thompson [Capt.]
Subs Not Used: Jonny Burgess, Chris Hanrahan

Team News: Jag Bahi signed for Wellesbourne this week, best wishes Jag from all of us; Josh Blake should be "back next week"; Simon Wickson has resumed training at Brunel University; Chris Hammond was unavailable today for personal reasons.