Home comforts see Leamington make encouraging start to season

Local side Leamington have made a strong start to the new Enterprise National League North campaign, with Tuesday night’s 2-1 win at home over bottom side Southport propelling them into tenth place in the table.

Goals from Ant Lynn and Ewan Williams saw the Brakes overturn a 1-0 deficit to record a third consecutive win at Your Co-op Community Stadium, following on from two narrow home victories over Radcliffe and Chorley during the final week of August.

It was Williams’ brace that downed the visiting Radcliffe and earned Leamington the first of these victories, which also served as the side’s maiden three points of the season following a tough opening run of fixtures.

Manager Holleran was delighted to see his players bounce back from disappointment

Ties away to Curzon Ashton and Peterborough Sports book-ended South Shields’ visit to Warwickshire, whose composed performance in a 2-0 win on the road demonstrated their credentials as early promotion contenders.

The Radcliffe win still proved a bit of a false start, as a fruitless Bank Holiday Monday trip to Kidderminster Harriers reminded the Brakes of the discipline required to succeed at this level. Paul Holleran’s side appeared to have stolen an unlikely point from 2-0 down in Worcestershire by equalising in the 95th minute, before switching off to concede a heartbreaking winner just two minutes later.

A maximum of six points from the following week’s home doubleheader, though, more than made amends for recent opportunities missed on their travels. Saturday’s meeting with Chorley looked to be heading towards a second stalemate of the season before Max Ram found the winner in the 89th minute, smashing in an effort from a long free-kick routine.

A third win of the campaign leaves Leamington level on points with King’s Lynn Town

Manager Holleran was delighted to see his players bounce back from the disappointment of five days prior, praising his team’s defensive structure and improved composure during key moments of the game.

“I was so deflated for the players and the fans [after defeat to Kidderminster] because of everything we’d done, and then we sort of got too emotionally involved,” he admitted.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about a lot this week, managing our defensive third, being structured, being brave, being aggressive, managing all the little elements in football as well. We’ve done that to a man today. It was a really good performance. We started the game brightly and ended the game brightly. I’m delighted for everyone, really.”

Holleran’s side showed more of that composure in Tuesday’s performance, equalising and then winning the game after Arthur Gnahoua had opened the scoring for Southport just minutes into the second half.

Home comforts have underpinned what has certainly been a compelling start to the new season

A third win of the campaign leaves Leamington level on points with King’s Lynn Town, who occupy the final promotion play-off position, although such early-season form may seem all too familiar to Brakes fans.

A similar start to what was the side’s first campaign back in the National League North saw the Brakes sitting pretty in the play-offs, before a miserable mid-season run and the loss of top goalscorer Callum Stewart to Shrewsbury Town saw them only secure sixth-tier survival in the final weeks of the campaign.

Leamington are still yet to win away from Your Co-op Community Stadium this term, but home comforts have underpinned what has certainly been a compelling start to the new season.

The Brakes return to action this weekend with a trip to County Durham side Spennymoor Town, before travelling to Alvechurch a week later to embark on the road to Wembley in the FA Cup.