A game of two halves

Leamington beat King's Lynn Town 3-0 tonight at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium, all the goals coming in the second half. With England on tv, there was a depleted attendance of 345 and one dog, but a fair sized contingent had made the long journey from Norfolk.

In the first half the ball was played in the air far too much and the visiting keeper was only tested once.

Ahmed Obeng opened the scoring for Brakes on 59 minutes and he almost scored again immediately afterwards when he burst through and was one on one with the keeper.

Nerves were settled on 84 minutes when Courtney Baker-Richardson made it 2-0 and, then with the keeper out of his goal, Jack Edwards, who had come on as a substitute, scored the third.

Great fight back by Brakes

Leamington staged a great fight back against Redditch United at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium tonight to win 2-1. The home side took a sucker punch in the third minute when the visitors broke from a Brakes corner and Danilo Johnson was given the space to score with a header. Breeden didn't seem too happy with the lino.

The Redditch keeper then made a great save from Jack Edwards and Breeden made a good stop to keep Brakes in the match.

Gudger replaced Tom James at half time because if injury. When Taundry came on in place of Lilly he made a real difference, commanding the midfield and positioning himself well to influence the game. Redditch increasingly resorted to fouls and received a number of yellow cards.

On 64 minutes Rowe equalised from a corner. This revitalised Brakes and Hood then made it 2-1 in a goalmouth scramble.

The Harbury Lane end kept up a chant of 'You can stick your Ferrari up your ****' as Brakes defended their lead with vigour.

Leamington are fourth, two points behind new leaders Slough Town.

Attendance was 408 and one dog.

Lessons to be learned

A 90th minute penalty secured Weymouth a share of the points at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium this afternoon, Leamington drawing 1-1 with the Terras. It cannot be said that it was an unfair result with Weymouth pressing hard down the slope in the second half. What you shouldn't do when you have a 1-0 lead, having missing a couple of chances to score, is to sit back and defend because sooner or later, one way or another, the opposition will find a way through

On a damp but mild afternoon, supporters were regaled by Alice before the game who seemed to have something with the Co-op, but was handing out clappers rather than a divi. Three boxers were also introduced before the game, quite why I don't know, but I saw them mixing with the crowd at half time, one asserting that in street fighting there were no rules. I have been told they were local youths who had won regional belts and hope to box for England.

We chose to change ends and I thought we would have been better off playing down the slope in the second half.

Tony Breeden had to make a good save on the line. Then after twenty minutes, good play involving a jinxing run saw Obeng set up Ryan Rowe whose shot was firm but not over hit to make it 1-0. Great build up play then gave Thompson-Brown a golden chance, but somehow he hit the crossbar. Hood was providing some good defensive work, as he did throughout the match. Two late corners from Leamington created some pressure.

The Terras applied more pressure after the break and Breeden had to get down to make a good save on the ground. Debutant Zak Lilly, brought in on loan from Telford with the aid of the 12th man fund, then had a great chance to score, but put the ball over. Hood received a yellow card for handball. Weymouth's big lump Stephane Zubar (who has played for a number of clubs in France, Romania and England) then received a yellow card, having already given his views to the referee earlier in the game.

An example of how the Brakes were getting things wrong was when a free kick was played to an opposition player and we then found ourselves under pressure. Tony Breeden had to save from a Weymouth substitute who was one on one with him and should have scored. The penalty was awarded around the 90th minute and AFC Bournemouth product Charlie Davis made no mistake in putting it in the top right-hand corner, giving Breeden no chance.

Referee Abbas Khan managed to add about seven minutes on, but although the Brakes piled on some frantic pressure, it was too late and to no avail.

Leamington are now 4th, three points behind leaders Chippenham.

No pot of gold for Brakes

Two rainbows could be seen from the Phillips 66 Community Stadium today, but there was no pot of gold for Leamington as they drew 1-1 with Biggleswade Town. The first half was played in torrential rain accompanied by flashes of lighting and rolls of thunder. The rain continued for much of the second half despite the sun coming out.

The visitors were all over Leamington for the opening phase of the game with Inih Effiong a real menace. The Brakes defence look vulnerable whereas the Waders held their line well. It was no surprise when Effiong put the visitors ahead with a neat finish. There was, however, more than a hint of offside. The young referee, one of those who likes to laugh with the players, was giving all the marginal decisions to Biggleswade.

Ahmed Obeng was getting a lot of criticism from those around me, even though he was trying to create more than most of the other players, but it was Obeng who equalised for Brakes before half time.

The Waders started the second half strongly, but Leamington started to get back in the game. Lee Moore, who had come on as a substitute, missed a good chance and then what looked like a certain own goal was cleared off the line.

Leamington then created pressure with a series of corners, but the experienced Ian Brown in the opposition goal made a series of near miraculous saves. He had to make a fingertip save at the end of the game to makes sure of the draw. Lewis Gwilliams, standing for the suspended Tony Breeden, had a decent game.

The result leaves Leamington in 3rd place, one point behind Chippenham who drew at St. Neots.

Merthyron!

Merthyr's vociferous band of supporters may well be feeling hard done by and truly martyrs (in Welsh above) as they make the long trek back to Wales, but the sign of a successful team is when they win even though the other side has been on top. Merthyr had a well organised defence with a former Welsh international keeper and were threatening in attack, but somehow Leamington survived the onslaught.

Leamington's attempts on goal in the first half were largely high and wild. After the break, the visitors stepped up the pressure and forced a series of corners. However, Leamington managed to break from time to time and with the minutes ticking away scored a goal from a crowded goalmouth. Edwards, who had been impressive all night won a header from a free kick and Thompson-Brown, who had come on as a sub, put the ball over the line. The goal was met with wild scenes of delight.

Official attendance was 464. I didn't see the dog, but maybe I missed him.

The Brakes are now top with 12 points but Saturday's opponents, Chippenham Town, are just two points behind.

Good start to campaign

Leamington started their 2016-17 campaign with a good win over Cirencester Town in hot conditions. Two first half super strikes from Ryan Rowe really settled matters.

Rowe scored his first after seven minutes. The visitors replied with a shot that wasn't far off target. Good work by Ahmed Obeng won a corner and the ball nearly went into the net. Rowe then scored his second with a blistering strike, a curler into the top corner.

We then seemed to take our feet off the gas a bit, although we had a chance of scoring a third just before half time. At half time we were top of the league!

Thompson Brown then scored on 52 minutes and for a moment there were hopes of the old five. However, Cirencester replied after two minutes with a header. We did not defend well for their goal. Cirencester's hapless left back Scott Bevan received a yellow card for a blatant trip. Rowe was taken off to loud applause and Lee Moore came on.

Breeden made a great save to preserve Leamington's lead and then had to spring into action again to keep the score at 3-1.

I was very impressed with Ahmed Obeng: good pace and some real skill.

Official attendance: 447 and one dog. Non-league dogs fans may wish to note that a FA Cup extra preliminary round match yesterday was sponsored by two miniature dachshunds: Canine sponsors

Bogey team Stourbridge

The Glassboys beat the Brakes 4-1 this afternoon at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium. Brakes had a debutante 6ft 8 ins. keeper who is normally the No.2 at Stratford. A call was put into the Bardsmen last night.

However, I don't think it was really his fault. We put some good crosses into the box but the end product wasn't there. Stourbridge had a well-organised defence.

There was a decent crowd and the game was played at a fast, competitive pace. Joe Magunda put Brakes ahead and, as the announcer said, this was a collector's item.

The Glassboys then scored with a scorcher of a goal from the much-travelled Chris Lait, leading to a chant of 'One for Iceland' from the Stourbridge massive, and this was followed by a second goal which was a chip over the keeper. Stourbridge were now dominating the game, but the half was brought to a premature end by a nasty clash of heads.

It was Chris Lait who put the Glassboys 3-1 ahead around 68 minutes and then they had a tap in at the end of the game. Plenty of lessons to be learned which is the point of these fixtures.

I arrived quite late and there were no programmes left, although the announcer found one for me. For anyone interested, I reproduce my article below which takes the theme of the battle of the Somme.

Way Back Then

On the eve of the First World War in June 1914, Stourbridge Football Club held their annual meeting at the Vine Hotel, Stourbridge. Probably few of those present anticipated that the country would be at war within the next two months. Some of those in the room undoubtedly laid down their lives in the years ahead, perhaps at the terrible battle of the Somme which we are currently commemorating (it lasted for 141 days). We should never forget the courage and sacrifice of those young soldiers, many of them footballers. Indeed, a football was thrown over the parapet when the attack was launched on one section of the front.

However, the problem for the Glassboys in 1914 was that the team was doing well, but this was not reflected in the level of support. The committee’s report stated that ‘They could look with feelings of satisfaction as far as the success of the team was concerned, but they were face to face with the fact that even a winning team had not received adequate support.’

The financial situation was, however, very good. Gate receipts were £700. Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, this is £73,000 in today’s prices, which strikes me as a very good amount, so perhaps the committee was complaining too much. The club had also done very well out of transfers, including the transfer of Richards to Aston Villa. They only give a global figure for transfers of £57,000 at today’s prices, but it is likely that around £50,000 of this was accounted for by the Villa signing. The club was left with a balance of £7,389 at today’s prices.

In its issue of 7 July 1916, the Courier contained a stop press headed ‘The War’. It stated: ‘East of La Boiselle we captured German trench on thousand yard front, enemy suffering heavily south-west of Thiepval. Determined attack on our new lines completely crushed. This morning, east of Albert, we resumed vigorous offensive. Germans at same time launched heavy attacks on our new trenches in vicinity of the Anere and north of Fricourt. Violent fighting progressing. We gained several important tactical successes. Germans gained three hundred yards north of Thiepval.’ How many lives were lost of both sides gaining small portions of devastated land? Over 19,000 British soldiers died on the first day of fighting in the Somme.

In the following week’s issue of the Courier, it was reported that a Bishops Itchington man had returned to his village. He had been wounded a few months before and had made a good recovery. On this occasion he had been wounded in the ankle by shrapnel but was able to get about with the aid of a stick. He expected to be able to return to the Front at an early date. He must have already seen plenty of horrors and be aware that he might not be relatively fortunate next time. However, people just quietly did their duty, although in retrospect the strategy and tactics of the commanders have been questioned. When one sees the war graves today on television, they look so peaceful, although the sheer number of them is always a shock. At the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.

More on the Somme here from my friend historian Mark Harrison: Turning point