Having read Gary Roberts’ pre-match thoughts about the game, regular supporters wouldn’t have been surprised to have seen the manager himself named in the line-up, such was the parlous state of health of his team. However, the knocks and bumps sustained in previous weeks shut the door only on Matt Haniver and Adrian Cambridge. Lee Chaffey was absent through suspension, Neil Midgley taking over the captaincy for the game.

City’s bench certainly had some new faces: Chris Arthur, Matt Batt and Matt Mitchell were all named for the first time in a league match.

Meanwhile, Leamington were in the midst of some fairly serious restructuring. Former Birmingham City player Paul Holleran was in charge for his first game as manager. Having taken over in midweek, he had already been busy, bringing in keeper Tony Breedon and defender Gary Knight, both of whom made their debuts. New player-coach Richard Beale was named as a substitute.

Conditions weren’t conducive to fast and flowing football, the wind apparently blowing in three directions at the same time, making clearances hard to judge and control. A constant downpour hardly helped either but with credit to the teams, once they had settled both sides wanted to make a decent contribution to the game.

John Frendo builds an attack

The Brakes were the first to show on just 11 minutes when City gave the ball away in midfield and then compounded their error with a mix-up between Tom Pepper and Zac Barrett that presented Mark Bellingham with the ball. He looked certain to score but Barrett managed to save twice from close range.

The home side took some time to get going – in the first 20 minutes they hadn’t provided Breedon with much to think about but all this changed on 23 minutes when birthday boy Ashley Fuller sent in a cross from the left that Steve Gentle did very well to head back across goal. Enter Brakes’ captain Guy Saunders who intervened with a thunderous volley that smashed into his own crossbar. It’s a shame he couldn’t have got over the ball and scored because it would have been one of the great own goals – not some apologetic mix-up ending in a fumbled clearance but a delightfully timed, well struck thunderbolt.

Perhaps City became infected with a little of the pre-Christmas spirit of giving because on 32 minutes the Lilywhites more or less gift wrapped a goal for Mark Bellingham, a man who seldom needs to be asked twice if he would like to score. Barrett advanced forward to clear a speculative through-ball frrom Luke Corbett, missed the ball allowing it to fall to Bellingham who was presented with an open goal. One nil and as soft a goal as you’re likely to witness.

It looked as if City were back on level terms just two minutes later when Tony Burke latched on to a flick on, took the ball forward and slotted past Breedon. But no…Assistant referee Helen Fulcher’s flag was up for offside and the goal was chalked off. Was it offside? The referee’s assessor thought so and being level with the play was in a good position to see. A few City players decided to plead with Sean Feerick, perhaps they thought that after 150 years of organised football, it was time for a referee to change his mind. Not surprisingly, he didn’t.

As it happened, City were back on equal terms two minutes later. Laurie Stewart started the move, making ground down the right before losing the ball. Undeterred, he won it back, slipped a pass to Burke who showed that he has two feet when he crossed with his left foot. Gentle was in the right place and hammered home from close range.

However, City’s largesse knew no bounds and having presented their visitors with one soft goal decided to offer a second on a plate on 40 minutes. In fairness to the Brakes, they worked the ball well via Stuart Herlihy and Bellingham but when Luke Corbett got his shot away, it appeared to be weakly struck and within Barrett’s range. The ball eluded the keeper's left hand and found the net – 2-1 to goals that could have been defended.

It can be assumed that Roberts’ half time chat focussed minds a little because when City came out it looked as if they wanted to bury the game as soon as possible. First John Frendo thrashed in a shot which Breedon did very well to block to safety on 46 minutes but no matter because just a minute later, Midgley won the ball in midfield, knocked it back to his fullback James Krause who put in a cross that seemed to be slightly held up by the high wind. Gentle timed his jump well and planted the ball in the net to level the scores.

On the hour, City had two excellent chances to take the lead, first when Frendo danced around four defenders before slamming in a shot that Breedon had to parry to safety and then a double chance after Theobald’s shot was pushed out to Frendo who couldn’t convert the rebound.

Still City poured forward, this time Fuller getting behind the defence before pulling back to an area that seemed to be full of black and white shirts, all queuing up for a shot. Unfortunately, the cross eluded everyone and the chance went begging.

The Brakes showed they were up for the fight when on 82 minutes Jimmy Husband’s cross was headed against the bar by Corbett, Krause clearing for a corner.

Referee Feerick somehow found seven extra minutes to add on during which Stewart came within an ace of scoring when his header blazed over on 95 minutes. A draw had to be the final result and in some ways, a bitterly disappointing result for the Lilywhites against a team that has performed poorly of late. But in helping the opposition to two goals certainly made life difficult for themselves. Perhaps an unlucky thirteenth game from City’s point of view but one which extends the run and keeps the club in third place.

Post match reaction Gary Roberts I’m obviously pleased to get a point to maintain our unbeaten run against a tough Leamington side in a game played in difficult conditions... more