Leamington Bench Talk
Tuesday 22 April 2003

A warm welcome to everyone from Leamington who have made the trip across to Tally Ho. We hope that you enjoy our hospitality and facilities. As we enter the final throes of the season, both sides are battling for the points for very different reasons. Whilst we desperately need to get another point to ensure that we remain in the division next season the lads from Leamington are striving to gather the necessary points to gain promotion to the Alliance.

Our 5-1 defeat at Leamington 10 days ago was my first visit to the NWG and it is quite clear that Leamington are going about their resurrection in a thoroughly professional manner. If you add the first class support that they receive to the equation then provided they continue to progress the club on a sound financial basis then I see no reason why they cannot climb up at least another couple of levels in the non-league pyramid.

Whilst we matched Leamington in the first half when Mark Delaney grabbed an equaliser on the half hour mark the killer was the penalty we conceded in the dying seconds of that period. In the second period Leamington battered us and thoroughly deserved their three points.

The Saturday before that saw us go down by four goals to three at home to Romulus in an ‘end to end’ encounter. Dave Blake scored early on when he volleyed home at the near post from a Dave Harnett corner. Romulus equalised and then took the lead before half-time. Mark Bellingham got us back onto level terms early in the second period only for Romulus to get their noses back in front within five minutes. Mark Bellingham them grabbed another equaliser with about four minutes to go only for Romulus to go down the fields and grab the winner with a couple of minutes remaining on the clock. Unfortunately we gave away some very bad goals and it does not matter how well you play if you defend like we did that afternoon.

Last Saturday saw us grab a deserved 2-1 win away at Continental Star on a pitch the likes of which I have never seen at this level of football. Easter Saturday, a howling freezing wind blowing dust storms across the pitch, pretty it were not.

We had all the early play and chances. Some poor finishing allied to great keeping from the Continental goalie and the inevitable happens. Continental grab the lead after 20 minutes and then had the better of the match for the next 15 minutes before Mark Bellingham broke clear and knocked home the equaliser. The second period saw us under pressure for lengthy periods with Continental never really looking like they would break us down. With 10 minutes remaining, Mark Bellingham broke clear on the left, beat three defenders and drilled the ball into the bottom corner. We battled right to the wire and grabbed ourselves three invaluable points.

The injury list is so long that it is not even worth giving a column inch too except to say that Chris Adams had four stitches inserted in his chin following Saturday’s game and he probably has a bit of concussion as well so it is unlikely that he will be available for this evening’s game. Mickey Hart is away in Dublin although Lyndon Price is likely to be available. After that it is anybody’s guess as I continue to run up the phone bill in an effort to fill the 14 shirts.

I am hoping that results will have gone our way over the Easter period so that our last two fixtures against Alveston and Cheslyn Hay don’t have the pressure of being ‘must win’ games. Don’t get me wrong, I desperately want to win them but it will be much easier to enjoy the game from my perspective if I don’t have to kick every ball throughout the match.

Get yourselves down here on Saturday for our last home game against Alveston and cheer the lads on. Best of luck to Mark Bellingham and Mike Mason on Thursday, who have been selected for the English Police Squad that plays Scotland at the home of Lincoln City that afternoon.