Welcome win for Leamington ahead of season's third meeting with Kettering Town

Jack Edwards celebrates his goal against Blyth Spartans

Brakes fans celebrated a long-overdue league win against Blyth Spartans on Saturday, thanks to Jack Edwards’ second-half strike.

Coming off the bench with half an hour to go, he latched onto a neat pass fromDevon Kelly-Evans inside the penalty area.

The angle was tight, but the substitute forced a save from Alex Mitchell and from the resulting corner he rose highest to head home. The Blyth keeper did get a hand to the ball, but only to help it into the net.

Jack Edwards scoring the only goal of the game on Saturday

Much to the delight of the 635-strong crowd it was enough for Brakes to bag their first three-point haul since early November to be 13th in National League North, with their visitors down in 18th.

But despite a good performance on Tuesday evening there was no such joy against high-flying Kidderminster Harriers, who warmed up for this weekend’s West Ham FA Cup tie with a 3-0 victory at the Aggborough Stadium.

This weekend Brakes have a trip to Latimer Park, seeking to avenge both this season’s FA Cup exit and league defeat, which saw Kettering Town 4-0 winners just before Christmas.

Their eighth-placed hosts are now managed by Ian Culverhouse, following Paul Cox’s move from the Poppies to Boston United last month.

Team celebrations after Jack Edwards scored against Blyth Spartans PICTURES BY SALLY ELLIS

There have also been a couple of changes at Harbury Lane this week, with the signing of Adam Walker and departure of Kieran Cook.

Having left National League North rivals AFC Telford United earlier this week, Brakes manager Paul Holleran moved quickly to snap up the midfielder, who has spent the majority of his career playing at Step 2 and above, and lives locally to Leamington.

Holleran said: “I’m delighted to be able to bring in a player of Adam’s calibre.

“He brings a wealth of experience at this level of football and is very well thought of at all the clubs he has played for.

“We are looking forward to working with him.”

Cook has returned to one of his former sides in Stourbridge after 17 appearances for Leamington. He had joined the club last summer from Alvechurch.