Brakes 1 Stalybridge Celtic 0: Owen’s late matchwinner suggests a change in fortunes for Leamington

The timing of the goal was not lost on an ecstatic Harbury Lane End, which erupted with joy when Craig Owen’s fine strike hit the back of the net.

The visitors will no doubt feel that they deserved a point from what was a fairly even game, but having been on the end of several late sucker- punches already on their own turf, Brakes were not complaining.

The home side looked lively early on, Ricky Johnson inches from connecting with Lee Chilton’s cross, while Liam Daly planted a header wide of goal from a corner.

The visitors did not threaten until Obi Anorou arrowed a header towards goal, forcing Tony Breeden into a fine one-handed save.

Prince Haywood fired well wide of goal, while Daly shot into the hands of keeper Matty Urwin following a free-kick.

Haywood’s run down the right saw him find Adam Pepper, who fired first-time over the bar.

At the other end, Jake Heath failed to find the target from the edge of the box and Leamington were forced into an early change when Matt Dodd was forced off through injury to be replaced by match-winner Owen.

While the first half had been short on incident, the second saw Brakes begin to apply more pressure on the Stalybridge goal.

Chilton’s diving header from Heath’s right-wing cross forced Urwin into a save, while a great header back into the centre by Johnson saw Heath’s shot blocked at close range.

Another shot from the Walsall loanee then struck team-mate Daly on the back.

Breeden was forced into another fine save when he reacted quickly to push Sean McConville’s dipping cross-shot from the left over the bar. Mark Lees headed wide from the resulting corner.

Both sides made changes with Paul Holleran introducing Will Green to add pace to his attack.

Stalybridge replacement Conal Platt had one shot saved by Breeden and another blocked by Daly as the visitors began to look more threatening in the closing stages.

Lee Moore fired a free-kick over the bar following a foul on Green, who did well to get in a shot on goal while grounded on the edge of the area.

As the skies over the New Windmill Ground began to turn black, the more pessimistic among the Brakes support would have been aware that the game was entering deciding-goal territory.

A nervous moment passed as a Stalybridge corner sailed through a packed penalty area untouched.

The heavens opened to send the visiting support on the North Bank scuttling for cover from an almighty downpour.

But nothing was going to dampen the spirits of the home support, who urged their team on and were rewarded in spectacular fashion a minute into injury time.

A diagonal ball from the left was picked up by Johnson as he charged towards the penalty area, the striker chesting it down and helping it out to the overlapping Owen, who dug out a fantastic curling strike from the right that flew past the startled Urwin and high into the net.

It was a great moment for the 26-year-old, who has endured an injury ravaged start to the season having been one of the standout performers in the build up to Brakes’ debut in the Skrill North.

The first-half substitute was swamped by his ecstatic teammates, who saw out the remaining two minutes of injury time to seal an important win which sets up an interesting return at Bower Fold on Saturday.

brakes: Tony Breeden, James Fry, Stephan Morley, Joe Magunda, Liam Daly, James Mace, Matt Dodd (Craig Owen, 41), Jake Heath (Will Green, 69), Ricky Johnson, Lee Chilton, Lee Moore (Luke Connolly, 90). Subs not used: Josh Hawker, Lewis Fenney.

STAlYBRIDGE CELTIC: Matty Urwin, Kelvin Blean, Andy McWilliams, Mark Lees, Joel Bembo-Leta, Kristian Platt, Adam Pepper, Lewis Hatch (Callum Warburton, 62), Obi Anorou (Conal Platt, 69), Sean McConville, Prince, Haywood (Oscar Durnin, 81) Subs not used: Tyler Cameron, Ashley Woodhouse.