​Brakes’ run is ended at Radcliffe

​Having overcome Peterborough Sports 2-1 at home on Saturday, the Brakes went to Manchester in a positive mood but ultimately fell short despite Henry Landers’ fine equaliser in the second-half which was swiftly cancelled out by Radcliffe’s winner.

Just past the half hour the home side moved ahead with a fine low strike from Rick Smith, although individual errors had allowed him the space to drive through the middle and do the damage.

Leamington levelled just before the hour mark when Landers, who had been on the pitch for just two minutes as a substitute, curled a terrific effort into the far corner of the net from out on the left.

But Radcliffe got their winner when Jordan Hulme had time and space to drill a low strike under Callum Hawkins and into the net and the home side had their first ever win at step two.

On Saturday, Leamington weren’t at their best but prevailed at home to Peterborough Sports.

Brakes went ahead with their first chance of the game after the visitors had started well, Dan Meredith’s cross powerfully headed home Cally Stewart.

The lead was doubled seven minutes before the break, when Ewan Williams was fouled in the penalty area and Stewart stepped up to fire low down the middle from the spot.

Kaine Felix, a former Leamington player, pulled one back for Sports in the closing moments of the game, but the points were safe for Leamington.

Boss Paul Holleran told the club’s media after the game: “We’ve had a little bit of a bug going round the club this week. “We’ve had to patch a couple up - they (Peterborough) have probably been similar. It’s not ideal with the schedule coming up.

​”For the first time this season here I think we lost our way a little bit, but there will be days like that, and there’s probably reasons for it as well. With four of five players not 100 percent today.

"Ewan and Walks were struggling a bit so you could see the legs went out of us a little bit in the middle of the park. We tried to change it a bit and it didn’t work, and then sometimes in those spells you’ve just got to get through it. To concede right at the death was disappointing. I think we can do better on our right hand side to stop it, and when it’s come across the box it’s gone past three or four bodies, so we’ve got to do better there. But that’s credit to them.

"This is a side that when we’ve played them before, they’ve beaten us and beaten us comfortably. They’ve got some good players and they’ve settled well into this league and got some experience and some youth - so on the whole, I thought we were good for an hour - I was pleased with our combinations, I was pleased with how the wide men came in and got the overload.

"We looked a threat in that hour - we’ve scored two, created another three or four really good chances, but you’d have to say that in the last half an hour it was theirs, and if they had been more clinical they might have nicked a point.

“Did we deserve to win the game? Yes, because we’ve scored two and probably could have got more in that period, and it’s probably the first time we’ve had to get over the line ugly a little bit. I probably do half know the reasons for it, but it’s another great three points in this division.”