Leamington took the points and beat The Lions for the first time on a sunny afternoon in Warwickshire, read more in our match report sponsored by BuildADrive.com.
Devon Kelly Evans took advantage of one of few chances from the hosts, in an afternoon made difficult by the conditions to play football, with a strike midway through the second half.
Marcus Bignot and Russ O’Neill’s men had a good first half but struggled to get going after the break and despite changes from the bench a goal was not forthcoming.
The Brakes started the game with a couple of dangerous deliveries into the box but Hamza Bencherif and his back line coped well with the threat.
After that it was a half dominated by the visitors but despite going close they couldn’t make the danger pay.
John Johnston was causing problems and delivered a dangerous delivery into the box which took a heavy deflection but Callum Hawkins managed to gather the ball.
Then George Cantrill nearly opened the scoring with a clearance from his own half which was caught by the wind and bounced just over Hawkins’ bar with the keeper at full stretch.
Leamington were struggling to get out and Hawkins again was forced into a good save to deny Dom Tear who turned well in the box to create an opening.
After a settled period in the game The Lions went close again from a free kick which was half cleared to Regan Hutchinson but his header went over the bar.
The half petered out from there after a frantic start, Leamington created a couple of half chances but nothing more than that.
After an exciting first half the second 45 never got going with both teams really struggling to get a foothold in the game.
It took 15 minutes for the first real chance when a long throw fell to the feet of Kelly Evans who made no mistake from 8 yards out and beat Mason with a powerful drive to open the scoring.
The visitors showed an immediate reaction through Johnston’s mazy run but his cross was stopped by Hawkins.
Both keepers had a quiet second half with The Lions’ best chance falling to substitute Josh Stones who was played through one on one with Hawkins but shot wide of the mark.
The final action fell to the hosts when Mason made an excellent double save to deny Kelly Evans from getting his second of the afternoon.
With that The Lions couldn’t back up Tuesday night’s convincing win over Blyth Spartans and with all other teams around them picking up points. Two big home games are next up with AFC Telford United visiting on Tuesday night and Chester are Saturday’s opponents at Nethermoor.
Attendance: 405
Team: 1. Owen Mason, 2. George Cantrill, 3. Jason Sraha, 4. Andy Kellett (67’ Latty-Fairweather), 5. Hamza Bencherif (C), 6. Lebrun Mbeka, 7. John Johnston, 8. Ollie Brown, 9. James Gale, 10. Regan Hutchinson and 11. Dom Tear (67’ Stones).
Subs: 12. Andy Hollins, 13. Dec Lambton (GK), 14. Josh Stones and 15. Thierry Latty-Fairweather.
