HOLLERAN’S BRAKES SHOW THEIR WISDOM
LEAMINGTON boosted their play-off hopes with a convincing win on the road, inflicting a fourth straight defeat on promotion rivals Redditch United at the same time.
And manager Paul Holleran paid tribute to the experience of his players which he hopes will keep them in the top five until the end of the season.
“From our point of view it was a really good solid away performance and we limited them to very little while we were a threat all afternoon,” he said. “We ended up scoring three really good goals and probably missed two or three good opportunities.
“What should help us at this stage of the season is the experience we have in the changing room and the ability we have in the side. I thought we used our experience to manage the game well.”
It was Redditch who created the first chance of the game after just three minutes when Brad Burton found space on the right and pulled the ball back for Jack Concannon but his shot trickled the wrong side of a post. United had further chances when Musa Ceesay forced a save from Callum Hawkins who then had to usher a Callum Flanagan effort around a post.
Leamington had their fair share of opportunities with Callum Stewart and Adam Walker being denied by keeper Adam Harrison.
The key moments came late in the half. With 35 minutes on the clock, Jordan Cranston’s free-kick picked out central defender Ryan Wollacott but his header flew just wide. That miss was punished two minutes later when the ball fell for Will Shorrock inside the Redditch area and the Brakes midfielder lifted his shot over the keeper.
The visitors took their momentum into the second half and almost added a second when Tyrone Barnett was played in, but his shot was blocked by Harrison.
Leamington continued to press and went two up after 61 minutes when Rob Evans drilled a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner.
Defender Dan Meredith put the icing on the cake in added time with a 25-yard strike that flew past the helpless Harrison.