Leamington 0 Colwyn Bay 3: An afternoon to forget as Brakes are unable to keep visitors’ lively front two at Bay

Barwell were the last recipients of such a collective off-day at the New Windmill but with several players suffering from illness or carrying knocks, manager Paul Holleran can at least point to mitigating circumstances for Saturday’s reverse.

Danny Newton was one such player, with a week in his sick bed forcing him to settle for a place on the bench, while Joe Magunda and Lee Chilton were both absent through injury as Holleran pushed Richard Batchelor into an advanced role behind Stefan Moore .

Having shipped five only five days earlier, Colwyn Bay were understandably nervous in the opening exchanges and Matt Dodd narrowly failed to latch on to a miscued defensive header with the goal at his mercy while Stefan Moore just cleared the bar with a delicate chip after Chris Noone had been caught in possession.

The lively Obi Anoruo, whose pace was to unsettle Brakes’ centre-back pairing all afternoon, gave notice of his threat by nipping in ahead of Neil Collett but, into the wind, he was unable to direct his effort on target.

Aaron Rey produced a neat piece of skill inthe box, but having cut out Collett, he was unable to find a team-mate in the six-yard box.

However, in the 21st minute, Colwyn Bay silenced the home support with a well-worked goal. Anoruo’s initial effort was blocked by Stephan Morley, but Brakes failed to clear their lines and the ball was back-heeled into the path of Rey, who had plenty of time to pick his spot, with Collett only helping it into the corner.

It got worse for the hosts 11 minutes later. Collett did well to save at point-blank range from Anoruo, but Rey was there to stroke the loose ball into the empty net.

Jordan Goddard’s driven corner was directed over by Batchelor as Brakes tried to fashion a response, with Stefan Moore denied by the assistant referee’s flag after Josh Ollerenshaw had failed to hang on to Goddard’s speculative effort.

Both sides had early sights of goal in the second period with Dodd sending a fizzing drive straight at Ollerenshaw and Collett standing tall to deny Marc Williams after a cute inside ball from Tom Buckley.

With the visitors always looking one goal away from imploding there was plenty of encouragement for Leamington and they spurned a gilt-edged chance to get back in the game when Goddard could only fire at Ollerenshaw from six yards out after springing the offside trap.

The visiting keeper did well to claim a powerful James Mace header before Brakes shot themselves in the foot with 15 minutes remaining.

Substitute Aron Wint looked to have averted the initial danger but he handed back possession to the Seagulls and, when the ball was worked back into the box, Marc Williams was hauled down by Stuart Pierpoint after blocking the defender’s attempted clearance.

Collett dived the right way but he was unable to get a strong enough hand to prevent Louis Moss’ spot-kick finding the bottom corner.

With Newton providing much-needed spark up front, Brakes belatedly came to life.

However, their efforts to gain a consolation proved in vain with Mace’s diving header superbly tipped away by Ollerenshaw and Newton’s point-blank header blocked on the line.

Brakes: Neil Collett, James Mace, Stephan Morley, Jack Edwards (12 Luke Connolly 82), Stuart Pierpoint, Jamie Tank, Matt Dodd, Jordan Goddard, Stefan Moore, Lee Moore (Aron Wint 70), Richard Batchelor (Danny Newton 60). Subs not used: Liam Maher, David McNamee.

Colwyn Bay: Josh Ollerenshaw, Lanre Olapade, Louis Moss, Joel Bembo-Leta, Filipe Anjos, Chris Noone, Tom Buckley, Obi Anoruo, Aaron Rey (Prince Haywood 70), Marc Williams, Jonathan Royle. Subs not used: Frank Sinclair, Adam Hodgson, Jake Parker, Rob Hopley.