Greater resources help Nuneaton to come on strong

Brakes gave a good account of themselves against Blue Square Premier Division newcomers Nuneaton Town but ultimately ran out of steam as the strength in depth and quality of their north Warwickshire neighbours turned a two-goal half-time deficit into a narrow victory, writes Paul Edwards.

With torrential rain falling in the opening stages, Paul Holleran’s side took an early lead when Dean Perrow was afforded time and space to run through a static defence and, with Boro keeper Ben McNamara opting to stay on his line, the striker was able to lash the ball home with ease.

Perrow grabbed a second inside ten minutes, stealing in to plant a header inside the near post from a right-wing cross.

Brakes remained relatively untroubled until the interval but in the second half Kevin Wilkin utilised his squad to full effect, with two of his substitutes getting on the scoresheet.

With two trialist goalkeepers on show after the departure of Nathan Vaughan, there was always likely to be hesitancy in the Brakes defence at some stage.

The second of those looking to impress, Michael Quirke, was beaten for the first time when Nuneaton trialist Rob Thompson-Brown cut in from the right wing to drive a shot past him.

With under 20 minutes to play, James Armson’s 20-yard shot deflected past Quirke to level the game up and Boro’s play-off hero Andy Brown completed the turnaround with a classy lob following a defensive mistake minutes later.

Despite conceding three second-half goals there were still plenty of positives to be taken from the game by Paul Holleran.

“It was another tough one for us,” he said. “Like the Mansfield game we had some very good periods of play over the 90 minutes.

“It was good to see Dean Perrow get a couple of goals.

“We haven’t got the biggest squad in the world and we maybe ran out of legs a bit in the second half. Plus, with one or two trialists about, the continuity probably wasn’t quite there.

“But we’ve gone toe to toe with a Conference Premier outfit again and for long periods held our own and played some good football, which was pleasing.

“It was patchy at times, which is to be expected in pre-season, but we’re getting there.”

Nuneaton Town: Ben McNamara (Neil Collett 78); Delroy Gordon (Neil Cartwright 55), Gaz Dean, Gavin Cowan, Stephen O’Halloran (Eddie Nisevic 76); Wes York (Lee Moore 85), Danny Sleath (Jon Adams 83), James Armson, Adam Walker (Robbie Burns 85), Danny Newton (Rob Thompson-Brown 55); Kyle Perry (Andy Brown 55).Sub not used: Ben Ford

Brakes: Chris Zyricki (Michael Quirke, 46), James Mace, Stephan Morley, Joe Magunda, Liam Daly, Jamie Grimes, Matt Dodd (Tom Berwick 64), Alex Taylor (Michael Tuohy 77), Craig Owen, Dean Perrow (Lewis Powell 46), James Husband (Sam Adkins 77).

 Leamington’s youth team begin their first season representing Brakes in the Midland Floodlit Youth League with a home fixture against Racing Club Warwick on Monday evening (7.45pm).

Entrance to the New Windmill is £2.

 Leamington Ladies are looking for new players for the forthcoming Midland Combination season.

Contact Joe Graham on 07801 597666.