Leamington off the mark at last with win at bogey side Stourbridge
Leamington finally secured their first win of the campaign – and it was even sweeter as the 2-0 victory came away at bogey side Stourbridge on Tuesday night.
Regular fixtures in the early part of the century between these two clubs tended to have a bit of needle, with the Glassboys seemingly holding a hex over Brakes for a good few years in terms of results.
It was not until Paul Holleran took over that this began to change a little, but the two sides have spent a good chunk of the last 10 years or more in different divisions.
However, this was still a blood and thunder encounter, as Scott Easterlow’s men attempted to do what they had failed to in August and collect three points from a league game.
The tone for the evening was set inside the opening minute; Louie Rea going into referee Callum Johnson’s notebook for a late challenge on Jack Fletcher.
However, this did not deter the young midfielder and his team mates and they took the lead on five minutes.
The ball was played in from the left, Cameron Eubank heading towards goal and forcing a save from Charlie Price, but skipper Kyle Finn was on hand to force the ball over the line, the officials ruling that it had gone over before a defender attempted to clear.
The hosts were in no mood to surrender their unbeaten start without a fight, and there were some meaty challenges flying in from both sides.
A super piece of play from Chris Wreh almost resulted in a second goal for Leamington.
A smart turn on halfway saw him carry the ball forward before feeding Owen Farmer, who motored down the left and returned the pass before Wreh curved his shot just past the far post.
The frenetic nature of the game continued; Cian Tyler doing well to push away a header from Krystian Pearce.
With just seconds remaining Kyle Belmonte was presented with a fine chance to send his side in with a two goal advantage.
Rea helped a left wing centre into his path, and the former Worcester man steadied himself before driving low towards goal, but Price made himself big and did well to smother the shot.
The Glassboys came racing out of the blocks in the second half, and Tyler had to make another save as Brakes struggled to clear a corner.
A sublime one touch attack from half way involving Belmonte and Rea, who slipped Finn in, would have made for a fantastic second goal, but the skipper was denied by Price, who made another good stop.
Tyler was quickly doing the same to deny Love again at the other end.
Nat Kelly powered a header just over the bar, before Tyler made an unorthodox stop with his knee.
Charlie Pavey drifted in from the left and fired a decent effort past the far post as Stourbridge continued to press.
Wreh then did superbly to wriggle free of a defender by the corner flag on the left, dancing into the box before stabbing his shot across goal.
But on 76 minutes Glassboys keeper Price was helpless as the impressive Eubank thundered an absolute rocket of a strike into the top corner.
Tyler pushed Jai Verma’s shot around the post almost immediately to prevent Stourbridge halving the deficit as Leamington homed in on their first three point haul of the season.
Callum Cockerill-Mollett dived in bravely to divert a rocket of a shot behind for a corner, as Brakes fought and scrapped for every ball.
Substitute Dexter Walters saw two shots blocked late on, but everyone was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief as the full time whistle sounded, and a first win of the campaign was secured.
BRAKES: Tyler, Cockerill-Mollett, Kelly, Freeman, Eubank, Wreh, Finn(Weston 86), Farmer (Kabeya 69), Rea (Arthur 82), Belmonte, Wilson (Walters 82). SUBS NOT USED: Fuseini.
ATTENDANCE: 506.