AFC Telford 1 Brakes 2: Moore’s double puts Leamington in good heart ahead of a tricky month

Two well-taken goals from Stefan Moore sealed the victory and although Tony Gray pulled one back almost immediately, Brakes held on to claim all three points despite losing debutant Walsall loanee Kieron Morris to what looked a harsh red card with ten minutes remaining.

The Bucks were first to threaten, Josh Hawker inadvertently heading a free-kick into the path of Andy Farrell, who forced Tony Breeden into a smart save early on, before strike partner Tony Gray volleyed another shot over the bar.

Leamington took a while to find their rhythm, Hawker lashing a shot wide of goal from distance while Stephan Morley’s free-kick took a heavy deflection which saw the ball safely through to Ryan Young in the Telford goal.

Matt Dodd drew the almost obligatory yellow card for an opposing player, Chris Lever going into the book for scything down the jet-heeled winger as he set off on a run up the right.

Gray looked to have a good sight of goal when he crashed in a well-struck volley, only for Liam Daly to intervene and divert the ball behind for a corner.

Brakes stood up well to the threat posed by their hosts in the first half and grew in confidence as the game wore on, using the wide open spaces of the Bucks Head playing surface to good effect.

The opening goal came from a Telford attack, Leamington moving the ball quickly out to Dodd on the right, and though the ball ricocheted kindly for him from Chris Lever’s attempted challenge on the halfway line he still had plenty of work to do before floating an inch-perfect cross to the far post for Stefan Moore to power a header past Young and into the net.

The goal bought a little more life to the contest and, although Brakes surrendered possession around the edge of their own penalty area on numerous occasions, they continued to defend stoutly, forcing their hosts to shoot from distance and looking to break forward quickly when possible.

The introduction of Andy Owens presented a new set of problems, the substitute seeing his shot blocked after the first of several mazy runs towards the penalty area, Sean Clancy driving the follow up low and wide.

At the other end Dodd did well to direct a cross from the lively Morris towards goal but it lacked the power to trouble Young.

The travelling faithful were sent into dreamland with just under 20 minutes to go when Simon Grand failed to deal with a clearance upfield from Breeden and was robbed by Stefan Moore, who turned him inside and out before dispatching a precise low drive into the far corner from the right edge of the area.

This rattled Telford and their response was almost immediate. Sean Cooke had a shot blocked before Gray did superbly to keep his footing just inside the box and slide a shot under the advancing Breeden.

Things looked to be going from bad to worse minutes later when Morris, who will be with Brakes until January 14, was sent off after going in strongly on Grand on halfway.

The Telford onslaught duly arrived but Leamington could have added a third when Hawker set off on a lung-bursting run from his own half, gliding past several challenges before seeing his shot charged down on the edge of the area.

Breeden played his part in maintaining the slender advantage when he produced a fantastic one- handed save to deny Owens, who had leathered a powerful shot towards the top corner.

 Kieron Morris is the latest Walsall player to join Brakes on loan, following in the footsteps of Jake Heath.

The 19-year-old, who is a member of the Saddlers first- team squad, spent a loan spell at Leamington’s Skrill North rivals Worcester City last season.

The pacy left-side midfielder has come up through the youth team ranks at the Bescot Stadium and is a regular member of their reserve side, scoring eight times so far this season.

He was handed his first professional contract in 2012 and signed a new deal in the summer.

AFC TELFORD: Ryan Young, Chris Lever (Andy Owens, 63), Neil Byrne, Simon Grand, Mike Grogan, Robbie Booth (Sean Cooke, 63), Charlie Barnett, Andy Farrell (Matthew Bailey 81), Tony Gray, Sean Clancy. Subs not used: Andy Pryce, Martyn Jackson.

brakes: Tony Breeden, James Mace, Stephan Morley, Craig Owen, Liam Daly, Josh Green, Matt Dodd, Josh Hawker, Stefan Moore (Ricky Johnson, 83), Lee Moore (David McNamee, 90), Kieron Morris. Subs not used: Will Green, Luke Bottomer, Lewis Fenney.