League Cup Final

Lastnight, Leam FC played in the League Cup final up at the Bescot Stadium against Tipton Town. Remember, we played there last season and lost to Barwell, well this season Captain Cadzy was trying to put to rest the ghosts from 12 months ago. Taking a detour to Brinklow to pick up the lovely Faith, we headed up the M6, talking all things Colts, Football and Brinklow. I think Pete knew I was secretly papping my pants, and I think Pete knew that I knew that he was secretly papping his pants too - so we just talked nonesence for at least 2 hours on the way there.

It was a great atmosphere when we got there - bumping into people we speak to regularly, those once in a while, and also those who turned up for the day. We took our seats, and the usual suspects who moan at anything, moaned at the stewards, then shrewly waved them away "not wanting any trouble". We had the majority of the play in the first half, hitting the wood work a number of times, with Tipton just happy to sit back and hoof it over the top to their "big man"* might actually be diddy. Against the run of play, Tipton scored from an accidental drop from Richard Morris (from what I can remember)

Once again, moaning people decided that if you're 1-0 down at half time, you might as well just pack up and go home for the remaining 45 mins. I think they'll need to learn very quickly that next season is going to be a little harder than this season, and we will lose, but its up to us and the management to pick the team up - not just give it up.

Anyhooo ... the Brakes came back, fought for the ball, hit the woodwork even more times - so much so, it looked like a Crossbar Challenge from Soccer AM. The fans were getting louder and louder as time went on ... 88 mins arrived and we managed to get an equaliser - the crowd went mental - seriously mental. This took us into extra time, with the opposition players who previously having "cramp" (*might have been trying to time waste) deciding there wasnt really time for it anymore. Leamington FC came back stronger, and you can tell that after the season we had, we were going to win it, or at least take it as close as we could. Every Brakes player was getting to the ball quicker, passing it around, moving faster, and Tipton looked like they were running out of energy. Andy Gregory (the chap who fixed my front door) picked the ball up from midfield, looked up, hit the damn thing, only to see it hit the back of the net - 2-1 in the first period of extra time.

We had ample opportunities to take the game out of Tipton's reach, by once again, hitting the bar and the post - time and time again. The final final (final) whistle went, Leamington FC were crowned League Cup final winners, 12 months after a terrible display against Barwell.

Highlights of the night were;

• the "stand up, if you're 2-1 up" and 800 Leamington Fans standing up, clapping, making even more noise.
• the Sack Cadzy Banner - Ironic statements from fans that can be found in the Courier

Managed to shake hands with Morts, the captain for the night - what a fantastic experience.