Leamington give bottom of the table Saints 'the old five'
Team: Day; Thompson, Walker, Rowland, Sidwell, Bahi; Timms (Hammond), Webb, Shearsby (Hanrahan); Nicholls, Blake (Agar)
Leamington cruised to an easy victory in front of a New Windwill bank holiday crowd of 543.
After just 4 minutes, Josh Blake had put the home side in front with a mis-hit shot which bounced over the helpless Southam 'keeper. The Brakes then continued to dominate the first half without managing to get a second goal. The defence was given a rare scare in the 25th minute, when Southam had the ball in the back of the net, only for the linesman to have his flag up. Leamington quickly swept the ball downfield and Blake very nearly added a second, going just wide. That was to be Blake's last contribution of the game, as he limped off on 30 to be replaced by Brian Agar, who bought his usual skill to the game.
The Southam team, including manager Barry Proctor's sons Ashley and Hayden, as well as Scott Curphey, were simply unable to gain any control of the ball, with Tom Sidwell solid at the back, and Glen Webb dominant in midfield. Southam were able to hold on to a 1-0 deficit until half time though. Not for long.
Leamington made it 2-0 on the 52nd minute. Good work from Barry Shearsby sent through the impressive Glen Webb, who took a touch before slotting it past the Southam keeper in front of the North Bank. With the fans still celebrating that goal, Webb made it 3-0 with a superb strike from just outside the box on 54. Jag Bahi then added a fourth, to make it 3 goals in 5 minutes, his first for the club. Webb and Agar combined well down the left giving Bahi the opportunity to drive home.
Game over for Southam, it was just a matter of keeping the score down now. Hammond and Hanrahan came on to replace Timms and Shearsby respectively, as the Brakes continued their dominance of the game. Paul Nicholls added another to make it 5-0 on 74 minutes with an excellent header from a Steve Thompson cross. He nearly added a sixth on 83, however the 'old five' was easily enough to give the Brakes an excellent victory. Match report by Chris Wickson
NBB Man-of-the-Match: Glen Webb
