​Brakes win on penalties in county cup

​Leamington boss Paul Holleran made seven changes to his side, opting to give several of his squad the night off in preparation for the FA Trophy tie against Rochdale on Saturday.

Leamington took the lead on 38 minutes when Tim Berridge kept hold of the ball well on the edge of the Town penalty area before drilling a low strike past a static Lewis Solly into the bottom left hand corner for a long awaited first goal in Gold and Black.

Halesowen the levelled in the opening minute of the second-hald, as Jak Hickman beat Tom Connell on the right before firing low into the centre, where debutant Ryan Fletcher turned well before firing beyond a possibly unsighted Callum Hawkins into the net.

Young Brakes goalkeeper Jacob Humphries, who has been on the bench for the first team for much of the season, was then introduced for his debut in the last ten minutes and would then take his place between the sticks for Leamington’s shoot-out win after the game finished level.

Berridge stepped up to send Solly the wrong way for the opening kick, Adi Yussuf scored after a stuttering run up, and Josh Quaynor blasted his spot kick home for the hosts.

Humphries went the right way for Nathaniel Kelly’s penalty, while Theo Streete rifled his into the top corner.

Yeltz substitute Todd Parker rolled his in, while Harry Lloyd drove a confident effort into the net for Leamington’s fourth.

Pa Njie levelled things up again for Halesowen, while George Ward drove Leamington’s fifth straight down the middle.

Humphries was again very close to getting to Luke Postle’s spot kick, as the two sides went into sudden death.

Ted Rowe sent Solly the wrong way for Brakes’ sixth, before Martin Riley slammed his penalty against the right hand post to send Leamington into round three.

While the Senior Cup may not be top of either club’s agenda this season, this was a thoroughly entertaining contest between two much changed teams, and there will have been plenty of unexpected positives for both managers.