More Stourbridge misery for Brakes

Leamington put their supporters through the wringer in a roller coaster of a match before finally submitting to their customary defeat at the home of the Glassboys, writes Paul Edwards.

After a poor opening 45 minutes, the contrast in Brakes’ second-half performance could not have been starker.

However, they were up against a Stourbridge side who simply do not know the meaning of the word defeat when they are facing Leamington.

Stourbridge had seen little of the ball prior to opening the scoring in the fourth minute.

The first corner of the game was only half-cleared and Ryan Rowe returned it with interest into the bottom corner.

Jamie Sheldon had his first-time drive pushed away by Lewis Solly, but Stourbridge were dictating the flow of a game.

Lee Downes and Rowe were both let off with a talking to after a flashpoint, with the performance of the match officials provoking the ire of both sets of benches thoughout the first period.

It was almost exclusively Stourbridge after the opening exchanges, but James Rowe fashioned a chance for himself when he held the ball up inside the penalty area before turning sharply and firing just over the bar.

Jamie Hood also saw a shot saved by Solly before Stourbridge doubled their lead, Aaron Drake pouncing on a suicidal backpass to place his shot wide of Tony Breeden in the 28th minute.

Jamie Sheldon placed a shot just wide from a good position and Jacob Blyth hooked another effort well over as Leamington showed glimpses of dragging themselves back into the contest as half-time approached, while the officials were unmoved after Rowe went down inside the penalty area under a challenge from Ryan Mahon.

Liam Daly headed straight at Solly as Leamington began to ask more questions of their hosts at the beginning of the second half, with the travelling support now cranking up the volume.

Stourbridge saw a header hooked away from the goalline, but Brakes found a ray of hope in the 56th minute when Blyth threw himself at Rowe’s right-wing cross to half the deficit.

Daly saw another header pushed over the bar by Solly as Leamington exerted concerted pressure on the Glassboys goal, and they were rewarded when panic inside the six-yard box allowed Neil Barnfield to bundle the ball home for his first goal for the club.

Stourbridge were clearly rattled and Blyth almost connected with a deep cross at the far post before the away end erupted with delirium as James Rowe made it 3-2 to the visitors in the 74th minute. The former Canvey Island striker was played through and showed the chasing defenders a clean pair of heels before firing past Solly and whipping his shirt off in celebration to earn the obligatory booking.

Matters got worse for the hosts three minutes later when substitute James Dyson was shown a straight red for a late challenge.

Brakes fans dared to dream, but they should have known better.

With just seven minutes to play, a penalty was awarded to the home side following a handball by Daly. Breeden got down well to parry the spot kick, but Linden Dovey followed up to ram home the rebound.

There were goalmouth scrambles at both ends and it looked as though a well-contested stalemate was to be the final outcome.

However, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Ben Billingham was played through on goal, and seeing Breeden off his line he lifted his shot over the Leamington keeper to spark joy for the home support and utter devastation for the travelling fans.

Stourbridge: Lewis Solly, Linden Dovey, Ryan Mahon (Josh Craddock, 53), Paul McCone, Sam Smith, Sam Rock, Paul Lloyd, Leon Broadhurst, Ryan Rowe, Ben Billingham, Aaron Drake (Nathan Bennett, 55, (James Dyson, 68). Subs not used: Drew Canavan, Craig Slater.

Brakes: Tony Breeden, Scott Lycett, Stephan Morley, Lee Downes, Jamie Hood, Liam Daly, Jamie Sheldon (Alex Cowley, 82), Neil Barnfield, Jacob Blyth (Luke Corbett, 85), James Rowe, Alex Taylor. Subs not used: Adam Newbury, Chris Knight, Richard Batchelor.