Team: Gettings; Dhesi, Sidwell, Gregory, Burgess; Ellis, Shearsby (Saunders), Timms (Mort), Agar (Adams); Eden, Nicholls
Brakes returned to the top of the pile with an efficient win over mid-table Griff. The match only came to Iife in the second half and was sewn up with a Paul Nicholls penalty and a header from defender Tom Sidwell, sandwiched by a Griff equaliser on the break.
Griff hit the bar twice inside the first five minutes, but the anticipated deluge of chances failed to materialise as the sides settled down on the vast Pingles Stadium pitch.
Brian Agar, Andy Ellis and Darren Timms all did their best to prise open the Griff defence, but little was getting through. A wide effort from Timms was about all Brakes had to show after a lacklustre first half.
At the other end, James Gettings was looking more composed in goal and proved his worth with a good save close to the break, diving low to his right.
Substitutes Nick Mort and Ben Adams were introduced to liven things up and within a minute Leamingon was in front. Paul Nicholls dispatched a low, powerful penalty into the corner of the net following a foul on Eden.
The advantage was short-lived. Less than five minutes later Griff were level when Lee Smith burst through a static defence and beat the unfortunate Gettings wi!h a superbly-placed shot.
The Brakes response was almost immediate. Sidwell, who was at fault for the Griff equaliser, rose to head a Mort corner into the net.
The dependable Jonny Burgess deserved a goal after a fine solo run at the Griff defence and Mort had a shot well saved. But Brakes had to mount a defensive operation in the closing stages to keep the home side from scoring the equaliser their commitment deserved. A mishit Gettings clearance could have been a lot worse. Match report by Simon Steele
NBB Man-of-the-Match: Sidwell
