Today I'm going back 13 years to 2008 and Leamington's visit to Coles Lane, home of Southern League Division 1 Midland Division's Sutton Coldfield Town watched by 315 hardy souls.
Christmas is coming and, as is usually the case these days, in preparation for the forthcoming period of three or four fixtures in the week commencing on Boxing Day, matches immediately pre-Christmas are actually quite hard to find. Over the years I have never witnessed a game on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and, I think, if matches were scheduled for either of those two dates they would be sparsely attended as people prioritise family gatherings. It wasn't always the case however and English League fixtures were scheduled on Christmas Day itself until the late 1950's and in Scotland until the 1970's. Anyway, regular readers of my daily programme memory postings can look forward to a two-day hiatus as I eat, drink and make merry with no football memories on the 24th and 25th to offer you.
The featured match in 2008 was a humdinger and finished 3-3 although the draw would have felt like a defeat for the Brakes (Leamington) as they contrived to give up the lead with an equaliser scored with the last kick of the game. Sutton had initially taken the lead after 34 minutes from a header by Junior Brown but Leamington equalised through Luke Corbett on the stroke of half time. With 63 minutes gone, Leamington took the lead thanks to Mark Bellingham who latched on to a long goalkeeper clearance by Richard Morris to slot the ball home. Students of the game may wish to note the name Bellingham: Mark is the father of wonder kid Jude Bellingham who is currently lighting up Dortmund with his performances in the Bundesliga. Sutton then went down to ten men following the dismissal of Richard Robinson for a wild lunge of Bellingham. When Leamington notched their third goal in the 85th minute following an own goal by Michael Batchelor, you would have imagined that it was game over. However, nobody told Sutton Coldfield and they pulled a goal back within a minute of Leamington's third. Their fairy tale comeback was completed with the last attack of the game and, wouldn't you just know it, Michael Batchelor was the player to lash the ball into the roof of the Leamington net. He went wild much to the annoyance of Brakes supporters. With the benefit of hindsight it's worth noting that the two points dropped here would have made all the difference Leamington's Championship challenge that season.
These days, Sutton Coldfield Town can be found in the Northern Premier League Division 1 Midlands instead of the Southern League's version of 2007/8. Leamington have since progressed to the National League North (the 6th level of the English football pyramid). Season 2007/8 was a good one for both the Royals and the Brakes but it ended in disappointment for both. Leamington finished in 2nd place in the League by just two points with Sutton Coldfield finishing twelve points further back in 4th position with both sides thereby qualifying for that season's Play-Offs. Sutton lost out to Stourbridge in their Play-Off Semi-Final whereas Leamington beat Rushall Olympic but they too would come undone 1-2 against Stourbridge in the Play-Off Final played at Leamington's ground. Stourbridge were therefore promoted along with Champions Evesham United and Leamington would have to wait another season before gaining promotion to the Southern League Premier Division.
CRB Match No. 1664
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