Roberts punishes ten-man Brakes

Leamington crashed to their heaviest league defeat at the New Windmill on a night when nothing went right for Paul Holleran’s side, writes Paul Edwards.

There is no doubt the sending off of Jamie Hood affected the outcome of the game but Brakes were already a goal down and failed to make any impression on the visitors’ goal throughout.

They contributed to their own downfall by losing possession for two of the goals, all scored by Drew Roberts, whose hat-trick goal was quite simply top-drawer.

Brakes found themselves behind in the 13th minute when Roberts fired in off the post after Liam Daly was adjudged to have brought down James Faulkner in the box.

Daly had a header cleared off the line before the complexion of the game changed dramatically, with Hood dismissed for a challenge on Faulkner which left the striker on the floor clutching his chest.

David Kolodynski curled a shot agonisingly wide of the far post as Brakes looked to seize the initiative after the break.

However, they found themselves two down just before the hour as Daly squandered possession to Gareth Price, who put Roberts through to calmly beat Tony Breeden.

Holleran threw on Sam Adkins and Craig Owen to try and breathe life into Leamington, but the visitors put the game out of reach in the 81st minute with a fantastic strike from Roberts which flashed past Breeden at his near post.

The home fans who left at this point were at least spared the sight of Town’s fourth, with Breeden’s clearance cannoning off Daly to Roberts, who made no mistake from close range.

Brakes: Tony Breeden, James Mace, Michael Tuohy, Lee Downes, Jamie Hood, Liam Daly, Alex Taylor (Sam Adkins, 62), James Husband (Craig Owen, 62), Jacob Blyth, David Kolodynski, Richard Batchelor (Tom Berwick, 79). Subs not used: Dior Angus, Lee Williams.

Bedford: Ian Brown, Graham Clark, Seb Simpson, Jon Darby, Gavin Hoyte, Josh Leech (Max York, 81), Gareth Price (Jamie Cole, 72), Manny Richardson, James Faulkner (Jermaine Ivy, 84), Drew Roberts, Callum Lewis. Subs not used: Jermaine Hall, Michael Kavanagh.