Leamington FC take the loss against Marine

The Brakes suffered yet another match cancellation when last Tuesday’s game against Alfreton was called off. Needless to say, the players were raring to get back in action on Saturday.

Remarkably, they went into this weekend home game as favourites, with their opponents, Marine, sitting second-bottom in the league. Optimism had been high after the club’s victory at their most recent home game however, on Saturday, this optimism was unwarranted. A shocking loss to 22nd placed Rushall Olympic, coupled with Cally Stewart’s departure to Shrewsbury Town meant that there was plenty for the home side to be wary of going into the game.

ACDC’s ‘Hell’s Bells’ blasted through the intercom as kick-off marked the beginning of Leamington’s damnation. One could tell there was something not quite right, with a handful of shoddy clearances immediately putting the Brakes on the back foot. Nonetheless, it took 12 minutes for Marine to have a meaningful effort, Enock Lusiama scuffing a shot wide. The most interesting part of the opening fifth of the match was when a Marine player swore at the linesman, and a gentleman behind me in the stands retorted: “We object! Scousers need subtitles!”. It was after this that the intensity grew.

As we settled back into our seats, we were greeted by some scrappy football

19 minutes in, Brakes’ captain Adam Walker went in for a high challenge that resulted in a red card. To their credit, Leamington greatly improved after going down to 10 men, with a couple of penalty shouts to go alongside two last ditch blocks from Marine’s defence.

On 39 minutes however, the extra man paid off for Marine as Lusiama was sent through. He provided an intricate finish into the top right corner, and a very admirable acrobatic celebration to boot. Despite the best efforts of attacker Ewan Williams, who could well have scored a brace on another day, Leamington faced an uphill battle going into the second half.

As we settled back into our seats, we were greeted by some scrappy football. The defences provided more hoofs than an Aintree weekend as the ball went flying all over. A series of goalmouth scrambles seemed to tease a Leamington equaliser. The game only paused to allow Marine goalkeeper Matty Corran, to contract cramp and disrupt the home side’s momentum.

The Brakes remain a comfortable six points above the relegation zone with three games in hand on Rushall

This was clearly an astute tactic, with Marine rediscovering their mojo when Kallan Murphy broke through the Leamington back line, only to fire over. It wouldn’t be long before the visitors sealed it, Fin Sinclair-Smith’s neat effort trickling painfully over the goal line in front of a defeated defence. It was a quieter second half, but it was no less devastating than its predecessor. Marine manager Neil Young would have been delighted as his team were left with victory at full time.

Thinking the refereeing to have been a little rash in places, I asked Leamington no.19 Ant Lynn what he made of the officials’ show: ‘Not great. Not great.’ he said with a wry smile. Not all the players were quite so responsive, as my question about the red card was met with a, perhaps deserved, begrudging silence.

The Brakes remain a comfortable six points above the relegation zone with three games in hand on Rushall. Nonetheless, boss Paul Holleran has to change something to help his team escape this rut.