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Leamington spent the first half of the season drawing every game they played, before moving on in the second half of the season to losing every game. The cumulative effect of this inadvisable approach sees them clinging by a thread to their National League North status. OK, maybe that’s a slightly over-simplistic summary of their season, but not by much, and they have lost their last four after a brief recovery with back-to-back wins over Curzon Ashton and the aforementioned mis-firing Brackley. They sit fourth bottom, four points behind Farsley and therefore four points from safety. On current form, that four-point gap looks about as wide as it’s possible for a four-point gap to look. The Brakes came away from the impact Arena, Alfreton, last Saturday reportedly ‘well beaten’ (their own assessment).
This is probably THE match any neutral looking for a game to go to as a lovely Easter treat would avoid, as both teams are strangers to the concept of scoring goals. The hosts average a goal a game at home, less ‘prolific’ even than Hereford, but they don’t concede many either.
When these clubs met at Edgar Street in September it ended 0-0 and would probably have done so if they’d played 90 minutes of extra time. The Leamington back line is always resolute, horrible to attempt to breach, and always prepared to be quite dastardly should the need arise. It’s difficult to see how the Bulls attack will find a way to score, but it’s a funny old game so you never know.
Leamington are among the more modestly bankrolled clubs in the division, and have done well to retain their NLN status for six seasons. Admittedly the methods they’ve employed to do so have frequently been an unenjoyable watch, and occasionally downright unpleasant, but they’d presumably have been relegated long ago if they’d tried to play total football, partly because it would be impossible on the pitches they produce at the Your Co-op Community Stadium.
Ex-Bulls striker Ollie Hulbert, on loan at Leamington for the rest of the season from Yeovil, should start alongside top scorer Dan Turner, with another ex-Bull Kelsey Mooney more likely to start on the bench, and Simeon Maye won’t be there at all as he left in February. Turner has 12 goals, which isn’t a bad return for a struggling team, and he’s a good age at 24, is reasonably local, and his middle name is ‘Graham’, which would be a good fit at Edgar Street when coupled with his surname. Could he be worth a look as one half of a new front pairing next season if Leamington fail to beat the drop? Sorry to sound vulturish, but it’s dog eat dog in football, or vulture eat dog, and if you snooze you lose.
These clubs are separated by eight points, so a win for either, as unlikely as it seems, would be quite impactful. A five-point gap would perpetuate that niggly relegation possibility for Hereford, whereas an 11-point gap would put it to bed once and for all. The more likely draw should be enough for the Bulls to start planning for NLN football next season, but would do nothing to ease the pressure on the Brakes, much like a stuck pedal on my first car quite a long time ago. With that in mind, Leamington will therefore have to do more than usual to attempt to win the match, which could stretch that normally ultra-tight defence and create chances they don’t usually offer.
The Bulls’ record against Leamington is quite good. They’ve only lost one of the eight meetings between the clubs, but five of those matches have ended all-square.
There were some possible green shoots of recovery in the performance against Boston last Saturday, with the squad maybe buoyed by the appointment just before the game of new chairman Chris Ammonds.
One player who has been impressively motivated all season, and is finishing it still full of beans and purpose, is Miles Storey. If he can find the back of the net more than the front of Waitrose between now and the summer break (and admittedly time is against him) he could convince whoever it is that needs convincing that a new contract would be a wise move for both the player and the club. I think on balance I’d be all for that, as long as more natural goalscorers are signed too, such as, perhaps, Dan Graham Turner. However much Yan Klukowski claims that the squad is awash with goalscorers, it’s hard to pinpoint precisely who they might be if they’ve waited this long to show themselves.
COYW