Morale high at injury hit Brakes 50 years ago

In January 1976 ‘The precarious tightrope that Brakes boss Jimmy Knox is walking with his depleted squad tautened this week with the injury sustained by midfield man Micky Boot.   With his squad almost at full stretch, Knox now has to sweat it out until Saturday to see whether Boot will be at the ‘derby’ encounter at the Windmill against Banbury. 

Should Boot – whose form this term has been one of the dominant factors in AP’s surge towards the head of Division One North – fail a late fitness test with knee ligament trouble then Knox will be  virtually forced to bring in either defender Doug Griffith or John Brady, neither of whom have creditable experience in midfield.  And that will mean in turn Knox will have no option but to switch around his settled side.

Obviously the AP chief is reluctant to take such a step and possibly upset the rhythm of the team which have now gone 15 consecutive league games without defeat and picked up 26 of the last possible 30 points in the process.  And naturally, Knox is anxious to sign the midfield cover which he has been watching in recent weeks – and is hopeful that the move will come in the next week. 

Meanwhile, the goalkeeper crisis that has beleaguered the Windmill in the past three months is still no easier.  Dave Jones and Dave Garratt, the two AP professionals, are still nursing knee and ankle injuries and a lack of match practice isn’t helping their recovery – a sure sign that reserve soccer is sadly missed at this level of football.   Consequently John Davis is likely to once again take over the keeper’s jersey for the tenth game of the season.  

Despite the problems, spirit in the AP camp has never surely been as high.  Even in his programme notes on Tuesday, Knox was moved to comment: “I can’t praise enough the players’ attitude and the work they put into their game.   We have a wonderful spirit inside the dressing room and outside as well – this is an essential part of any successful team and takes time to achieve it but I feel we have got this now … it will go a long way to get us into the Premier Division.  There’s still some way to go but in our present mood I don’t see anyone stopping us.  It’s the same story from the players.  Ask any one of them and they’re all confident that promotion – if not the championship – is on the way to the Windmill. 

Last night at Birmingham skipper Roger Brown was appealing against a booking he received in the September FA Trophy game at Boston.  Brown asked for a personal hearing against the caution because he believed that should the FA take into consideration with two other bookings he received against Redditch and Bury at the end of last season, he could receive an automatic short-term ban.   Manager Knox was accompanying Brown, who is claiming a case against mistaken identity at the hearing.

As it turned out Brakes had no difficulty in beating Banbury 5-0, although the visitors lost their leading scorer to injury and then their keeper had to go off with a gashed eye.   Brakes were 3-0 up at the interval with two goals by Stewart amd one by Talbot.    He scored again in the second half and then Stewart scored jis 35^th goal in 34 games.

 

Good start to 1976 for Brakes

The end of 1975 and the beginning of 1976 saw some encouraging results for Brakes.  ‘AP Leamington extended their long unbeaten run in the Southern League First Division North by drawing at promotion rivals Barnet on Saturday.  And if this gritty performance was anything to go by, they are sure to be there or thereabouts by April. 

 One point was as much as they were going to get.  Indeed, their ambition from the outset did not seem to aspire to victory.   But in face of Barnet’s relentless advance, Leamington resisted so stubbornly for so long that one could not begrudge them a major piece of luck near the end.   They began brightly enough, home goalkeeper Barker cutting out a Talbot cross and then clinging to a Boot free kick in the first ten minutes.  

But the rest of the half saw Barnet pour down their slope.   Top scorer Ray Agglo once had Leamington worried by turning and firing into the hands of David Jones and later rounding the keeper, only for a couple of defenders to prevent him getting in a shot.   Leamington must have been relieved to see Agglo helped off after half an hour with a leg injury.  Certainly, Barnet had no one else with his ability to prise open defences.  

For a while in the second half Leamington came more into the picture until Barnet launched themselves into one final all-out assault.    But with Alan Jones and Brown on fine form, the home side could not find a way through, though Meadows headed against the bar in the 94^th minute with David Jones stranded.  Lemington visibly breathed a sigh of relief.  AP: David Jones, Taylor, Kavanagh, Alan Jones, Brown, Boot, Adcock, Lee, Keeley, Stewart, Talbot.  Sub: Griffiths (not used).

On Boxing Day Brakes played Enderby Town at home.  ‘When substitute Graham Adcock fired in AP’s second goal with his first kick of the match In the 46^th minute, Brakes finally relaxed.   For virtually thewhole of the first half, Enderby’s slick and zippy play caught the eye – and only poor finishing and bad luck denied them a commanding interval lead.  However, Adcock’s goal signalled a better display from a strangely lethargic AP oufit.   [Perhaps they had enjoyed Christmas too much?] And at the end the visitors could have had few grumbles about the final result.

Leamington looked only a faint shadow of the side that had humbled Worcester a few days earlier.  They let Town grasp the initiative and had few answers to the visitors’ early pace.    In the 8^th minute their efforts were rewarded when Cooper sliced the home defence apart with a perfect through ball for Paul Dearden to shoot over Davis’s body.   Mee failed to make it two in the 16^thminute after Dearden had weaved his way around the back of AP’s susceptible looking rearguard.  

However, strong running by Adrian Stewart after Talbot had knocked on a header brought Leamington’s equaliser in the 27^th minute.  Adcock’s goal put a different complexion on the game and it was AP who started to work together with their defence stifling what moves the despondent Town side could muster.    Town keeper Satchwell was carried off with torn ankle ligaments in the 70^th minute and four minutes later when stand in Burton failed to hold Boot’s shot, Stewart dispossessed him for Keeley to tap home.

NLP coverage of Holleran departure

 

Viva Holleran

The news that Paul Holleran is standing down was a shock and a blow.   In days of rapid managerial turnover he has served the club for 16 years and his long spell in charge was recently featured on BBC TV.

Paul has a marvellous contacts book and has developed many under rated players who have gone on to greater things, e.g., Colby Bishop at Portsmouth.   Danny Newton writing on X was full of praise for how Paul had rebooted his career.

Danny Newton said: 'The word legend for this man is an understatement  Signed me when I was close to packing it all in.   Gave me belief, advice and endless opportunity to discover my abilities that sparked my career.  What a man!  I am for ever grateful.'

I understand that Paul has some health challenges and I wish him well with those.

We will not see his like again.   I hope that someone on the board is filling in the Cabinet Office forms for an appropriate honour.

What we must now try and do is find a manager who will stay with us for a while.

I might give my Paul Holleran mask one more outing!