Holleran happy to take a point from 'toughest game' so far

George Ward (on the ground) sees his volley fly in against Scarborough. Photo: Cameron Murray.

Leamington boss Paul Holleran was pleased to take a point from what he described as his side’s toughest game of the season so far on Saturday.

Brakes drew 1-1 with Scarborough, George Ward’s spectacular volley cancelling Luca Colville’s early second-half strike.

And Holleran told the club’s media afterwards that a point against a strong side like Scarborough was a creditable effort.

He said: “It was probably our toughest game of the season. Scarborough have probably just gone up another notch from last year.

“I was pleased with the first half because the way they play; with the inverted wide men and the full backs stepping in to play, they get so many overloads, but we kept a good shape, had good discipline.

"Then the key thing was, when we won the ball back then, our system’s got the width. I thought we did that three or four times, and we looked a real threat on the turnover, but you’ve got to do more of that to keep them back. So second half when we didn’t do that, they are quite confident to step into play more.

“In the second-half they’ve come out like a train and we’ve struggled for 15-20 minutes. We got a bit sloppy, failed to clear our lines properly. They’ve got an overload here for the goal and it’s bouncing around our box.

"At that point then you’re thinking, here we go, because they’re probably the best side that’s come here so far. We’re 1-0 down, they’ve got good support behind them, which way are we going to go here?

"But then we came back into the game, we didn’t have the quality we had in the first half, but with the set play, one of the key things you’ve got to do is keep the ball alive, so we’ve kept it alive, and it’s a wonderful finish from George - again. I think I might have to start playing him up front!!

“Being honest I think we’ll be the happier team with the draw, but I think they’ll be glad to come away from here with something, because what has been good this year so far is that the boys are making it a really tough place to come to.”

Leamington take a break from league action this weekend due to original opponents Chester instead having an FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie.