We made hard work of that

Leamington are through to the third qualifying round of the FA Cup after beating Stone Old Alleynians 3-1, but we made harder work of it than we should have done.

Perhaps our first minute goal made us complacent, but we were casual.  We couldn't keep possession, were second to the ball and lacked movement off the ball.   The visitors were playing football and it was no surprise when a Tomlinson header from a corner made the score 1-1.

They could have made it 2-1 but for an excellent double save from Weaver on 30 minutes.  It was difficult to tell which was the Midland League side.

Whatever Paul Holleran said at half time, we started to look a bit more threatening and eventually went ahead.   A penalty scored by Dan Turner made it 3-1.

Credit to Dan Meredith who made some good moves on the right.

'Second best all over the pitch'

I wasn't able to go to the Spennymoor Town game as I had Covid, but the video highlights looked promising.  Playing Brackley away after 48 hours was a tough test.

Yesterday therefore came as a shock.   As Paul Holleran said, we were second best all over the pitch.  Right from the off, apart from an early flurry, we had difficulty in stringing passes together and keeping the ball on the ground.  We were often second to the ball.

We did look better at the start of the second half and their goalkeeper did have to make some good saves.  But we never looked like getting back in the game.  We are now fourth from bottom, albeit with games in hand.