Chairman and manager with the trophy
Leamington beat Hitchin Town to win promotion to tier two of the non-league pyramid in front of a record ground crowd of 2,108 and two dogs this afternoon.
Hitchin went ahead after ten minutes with a soft goal when a free kick was scrambled in at the far post. The Leamington players looked nervous and their efforts were somewhat disjointed, while the antics of charm merchant Brett Donnelly provided a constant and intended distraction. The Hitchin keeper was not really tested.
Brakes looked more invigorated after the break, but it was still difficult to work out where a goal was going to come from and the couple beside me left a few minutes before the end of normal time. Then, in the 90th minute Brakes won a penalty and Hitchin had a player sent off for a second yellow card. Rob Thompson-Brown stepped up to put the ball decisively in the back of the net.
The concern then was that the game might go to penalties but Courtney Baker-Richardson scored in the 114th minute, an excellent goal that looped into the top corner of the net.
It still required a great save from Tony Breeden and a Hitchin failure to take advantage of an open goal before the celebrations could begin.
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