Brakes 2nd in form table

Brakes are second in the form table after their 3-0 win over North Ferriby United yesterday. They were unbeaten in October, despite some tough games. although this was only their second home win this season.

Jack Edwards opened the scoring after seven minutes when he took advantage of a long throw from Kurtis Revan. Revan then won a penalty on 30 minutes which was converted by Rob Thompson-Brown. Revan won a second penalty for Brakes on 56 minutes which was again converted by Thompson-Brown. Breeden had to make a good late save.

Non-League Paper player ratings: Breeden, 6; Mace, 6; Gudger, 7; Gittings 7; Hood, 6; English, 6; Dunbar, 6; Edwards, 7 (Magunda, 74, 6); Revan, 8 (Bishop 79, 7); Canavan, 7 (Taundry 74, 6); Thompson-Brown, 6.

Outstanding result

One tweeter described it as the outstanding result of Non-League Day as Leamington beat promotion challengers Salford City 3-2 and ended their unbeaten home run in front of a crowd of 1,582.

I would not have been able to make it as I was taking part in the Alzheimer's Society Memory Walk in Leamington in memory of my wife Maggie, a former vice-president. At least it was good to see I could walk 5.5 kms without difficulty, albeit a bit slowly.

The report in the Non-League Paper is a bit grudging, describing it as 'unlikely win'. At least one of the Salford fans seems upset with the officials for not dealing with Leamington 'cheating' and is going to report them. Good luck with that (I think the standard of officiating at this level is much better than it was in the third tier). Leamington goals were:

• 19 minutes Thompson-Brown penalty after Jack Edwards was impeded
• 44 minutes Connor Gudger free kick from 25 yards inside the left-hand upright
• Substitute Kurtis Revan five minutes from time from close range.

Non-League Paper Player Ratings

Star man: Tony Breeden. Mace, 6; Gudger, 7; Hood, 6; English, 6; Clarke, 6; Dunbar, 7 (Taundry 90); Magunda, 6; Moore, 6 (Revan, 68, 7); Edwards, 5; Thompson-Brown, 6 (Gittings, 80, 6).

Victory at home at last

Leamington beat Bradford Park Avenue 2-1 at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium this afternoon to move to fourth from bottom in the table. They gave away an easy early goal from a corner, but then Dunbar caught the keeper out of his goal and made no mistake in getting past him for the equaliser. It was 1-1 at half time and the match could have gone either way, but two substitutes provided decisive. Clever work in the box by Kurtis Revan set up Ahmed Obeng to make it 2-1.

It was a balmy early autumn afternoon, but the early setback with the visitors given a free header by calamity defending caused gloom among Leamington supporters. However, as the Bloke Beside Me pointed out, it could be a blessing in disguise as it stopped us being defensive.

There were too many hopeless balls being punted forward to no one in particular when short passes on the ground were needed. The visitors were getting a lot of corners. Hood put in some good defensive work, his headers stopping potential danger. Bradford's No.11 was booked for kicking the ball away, but continued to protest and seemed to blame the lino who had not touched the ball. It was quite a physical encounter.

Leamington applied pressure in the second half, but could not find the back of the net. Breeden had to make more than one excellent save. On one occasion Hood and English let their centre forward through on goal. Joe Magunda, who put in a fighting performance, got booked for a bit of afters. Many of us thought that the Bradford player should have been booked as well. Rob Thompson-Brown hit the keeper's knees from distance. After we scored the goal, we managed to hang on despite one or two scares.

I would rate this as the best home performance I have seen this season and the win was well deserved. We should remember that Bradford are an in form team.

Attendance 502 and one dog.