Brakes have nothing to show from their travels

Brakes fell to a second successive single-goal defeat as they failed to seriously test their hosts at The Meadow, a venue which had previously been such a happy hunting ground, writes Paul Edwards.

And, losing out to their nearest rivals for a play-off place compounded a miserable few days for the club.

In a game of very few chances, The Generals took the one that came their way and demonstrated throughout just why they have the meanest defence in the Zamaretto Premier Division.

With Liam Daly missing after aggravating an arm injury at Hemel Hempstead on Saturday, Stephan Morley returned to the starting line-up in his place.

Leamington made a busy start to the game and Alex Taylor struck the inside of the post directly from a corner. Unfortunately this was the closest Brakes came to scoring all evening.

There were few clear-cut chances for either side during the first half, but Leamington saw a lot of the ball, with the pace of James Rowe keeping the Chesham defence on their toes.

The home side’s first effort on goal was screwed well wide.

Having enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges without really testing their hosts, Luke Corbett and Jamie Hood saw efforts inside the penalty area well blocked as Brakes applied late pressure to end the half.

Chesham were in front within five minutes of the restart, Chris Bangura heading home a left-wing cross.

Tony Breeden saved a driven free-kick shortly after, while the well-drilled Generals defence superbly protected goalkeeper Shane Gore, with Leamington failing to muster a shot on goal.

Seb Lake-Gaskin looked like he might be able to cause problems when he was introduced, but with the play bogged down in midfield, there was little chance for him to make an impact.

Manager Paul Holleran accepted his side had failed to create enough chances, but said there were still positives to be gained from the performance.

“People are saying they are the best team in the league at the moment, but we played them off the park in the first half,” said Holleran. “They couldn’t get the ball off us.

“We got into some great positions but we didn’t work their goalie enough.

“I’ll take heart from the performance, though - the very least we deserved was a 0-0.”

Chesham United: Shane Gore, John Kyriacou, Danny Gudgeon, Mark Lambert, Robert Bartley, Danny Talbot, James Potton (Chris Watters, 70), Steve Wales, Leon Archer (Aaron Gayle, 81), Chris Bangura (Paul Robinson, 75), Steve Obeng. Subs not used: Chris Elsegood, Sam Ledger.

Brakes: Tony Breeden, Scott Lycett, Stephan Morley, Lee Downes, Jamie Hood, Michael Tuohy, Alex Taylor (Seb Lake-Gaskin, 75), James Rowe, Neil Barnfield, Luke Corbett (Jacob Blyth, 80), James Husband. Subs not used: Jamie Sheldon, Chris Knight, Lee Williams.