he Courier reported at the beginning of April 1975, ‘A three point haul [then it was two points for a win] from their Easter programme was what AP Leamington had to show for their weekend efforts. On Saturday against Corby AP stole a win when home keeper Walker let a 26 yard Talbot effort trickle through his legs.
But the boot was on the other foot on Easter Monday when AP
met Bedworth keeper John Davies. Amazing
acrobatics by Davies in the home goal – who thwarted Brakes in their Birmingham
Senior Cup semi-final with Sporting earlier this year – enabled United to keep
their recent run of unbroken games intact.
He pulled off two spectacular saves in the space of seconds just from
eight minutes before the end of the game – first from Lee and then diving at
Talbot’s feet to smother a certain goal.
In a first 45 minutes
memorable only for the handful of defensive blunders at both end, AP rarely
showed much appetite for football. Eades
nodded Bedworth ahead in the 17th minute with a near post header
which caught Jones in the AP goal napping.
Keeley pulled Leamington level straight from the restart and amazingly
got his name on the score sheet for a second time two minutes before the
interval when he turned an innocent looking corner into the net.
Things livened up during the second half. Ex-Bedworth player Bobby Horne glanced home a
Boot corner within minutes of the resumption, but midway through the half,
United, with ex-Brakes’ Tom Sweenie controlling midfield, put their noses in
front again. After a couple of
threatening breakaways, Shepherd finally made a decisive move which paid
dividends. The ball was worked to
Fisher, who turned it smartly past Jones from 15 yards. Substitute Scriggens gave Brakes a deserved
share of the points in the 68th minute. And then Davies shut up shop.’ 3-3.
The Courier noted, ‘The next 15 days should do what Easter
failed to do – sort out the Southern League North promotion battle. Virtually all the promotion contenders
faltered somewhere along the line over the holiday period and indeed AP’s three
points from two away games looked quite impressive in comparison. Worcester dropped two points in three games,
while Cheltenham, who were feared as the “dark horses” only a month ago, perhaps
showed their true colours as they managed to haul in only half of the six
points at stake.’
Leamington were 7th and nine points behind the
leading team (Dunstable) but had games in hand. ‘Although the next fortnight should ease the
confusion at the head of the table, the same period looks like being a tough time for Brakes They’re faced with six games, every one
vital: including Tamworth at the Windmill tomorrow and away on Monday evening,
Dunstable and Enderby. And those six
are quite some build-up to the Birmingham Senior Cup final against Atherstone
on Tuesday April 22nd at Coventry City’s Highfield Road ground.’
Brakes beat Tamworth 2-1 at home and then beat them 1-0 at
Kettlebrook. Leamington were considered
to have been lucky in the away fixture after the home side lost top scorer
Brian Bates early in the game with a back injury and hit the woodwork
twice. Leamington won the game with a
29th minute goal which reporters thought was clearly offside. ‘Bobby Horne latched on to a loose ball and
cleverly rounded goalkeeper Peter King and shot into an empty net.’ Brakes needed to take maximum points from
their remaining eight games to stand a chance of promotion.
