Lacklustre Leamington bow out of FA Cup to seventh-tier Alvechurch

Last week, local side Leamington FC were dumped out of this season’s FA Cup at the very first time of asking away to lower-league Alvechurch.

After a cagey opening hour, Paul Holleran’s side capitulated within the space of ten second-half minutes thanks to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hat-trick from Forest Green Rovers loanee Jose Marquez.

Still finding time to miss a late penalty, the eventual 3-0 scoreline flattered the Brakes, whose solid home form so far this campaign just hasn’t been matched by anything resembling that on the road.

It seemed early on as if Leamington had banished any lingering woes

Seeking to bounce back from the prior weekend’s defeat away to Spennymoor Town, Holleran opted to field a strong side for a cup encounter, with only Max Ram and Ant Lynn dropping to the bench in favour of Theo Streete and Tim Berridge.

In front of a 200-strong travelling Brakes faithful, it seemed early on as if Leamington had banished any lingering woes from that fruitless trip to the North East when Berridge came close to opening the scoring after just five minutes.

With the score still level midway through the half, the hosts began applying pressure on their opponents’ goal themselves. Centre-back Jessy Bavanganga soon saw a header flash dangerously wide, before Leamington loanee goalkeeper Rogan Ravenhill was called into action twice within a matter of seconds to deny Ethan Sephton and then Callum Sullivan.

Thanks to Ravenhill’s heroics, the Brakes headed into the half with an opportunity for a much-needed rethink with the game still very much for the taking. Fifteen minutes into the second period, it certainly seemed as if Holleran had made the most of the break.

Fashioning their best chance of the game, a clever cross picked out the ever-lively Owen Farmer in plenty of space in the penalty area, but his low effort was tipped wide superbly by Alvechurch stopper Redman Evans.

A flurry of half-chances then passed the Brakes by, the best of which saw a crowd of desperate Alvechurch defenders putting their bodies on the line to deny point-blank attempts from Farmer and then Ewan Williams.

Having defended their goal so robustly, it was only a matter of time before the hosts responded to fashion another goalscoring opportunity of their own. With twenty minutes to play, a hopeful long-ball in the direction of Marquez was horribly misjudged by Brakes centre-half Rob Evans, allowing the on-loan striker to coolly loft the ball over Ravenhill and into the empty net.

It only took another five minutes for Marquez to double his and Alvechurch’s tally for the afternoon. Static marking, particularly from Williams, allowed the young forward to roam freely in the box from a corner, easily heading home beyond a helpless Ravenhill.

Yet another road defeat left Leamington winless in five on their travels

The magnificent Marquez completed his perfect hat-trick moments later with a left-footed drive, capping off a remarkable ten minutes for him and an equally remarkable self-implosion from the more senior visitors.

Substitute Lynn’s easily-saved late spot-kick rather summed up Leamington’s afternoon, who once again failed to trouble the latter stages of qualifying for what is the world’s longest-running domestic knockout tournament.

Thanks to Marquez’s exploits, which have since seen him recalled to his parent club, Alvechurch have been rewarded with another home tie in the third qualifying round, this time against Enterprise National League South outfit Chelmsford City.

Yet another road defeat left Leamington winless in five on their travels in league and cup this season, and the following weekend’s performance away to high-flying Fylde – finding themselves 4-0 down when a waterlogged pitch forced the game’s abandonment – has only compounded their worries.