Racing Club Warwick 5-1 The Mikes

After a solid performance against Sporting Khalsa in the opening game on Saturday the Mikes travelled to the newly promoted side in good spirits. After a largely sorry ninety minutes at the Racecourse ground Manager Stuart Grosvenor was left with plenty to contemplate before the difficult FA Cup tie against Daventry Town. He chose to make just one change in personnel looking to add a little strength with debutant Jack Coates asked to perform the defensive midfield duties and Alister Brauns moving to the left flank and replacing the unlucky Kyle Byrne.
The home side looked to have plenty of pace and this was to trouble the Mikes throughout the game. Three solid central defenders allowed full backs Danny Brain and in particular Danny Fraser to support at will. Lewis Fenney rescued the visitors with just three minutes gone foiling Jarrell Hilton with a brave block. As ever the Mikes were looking to play out from the back but this was fraught with danger against the busy hosts. As the game settled down and Boldmere gained some sort of ascendancy several promising attacks were thwarted by poor cross field balls and several times in quick succession passes sailed harmlessly into touch. Ty Knight at full back was prominent down the right and his clash with opposite number Fraser was a feature of the first half. Although Knight was booked after clashing with Fraser midway through the half it was the newcomer who fired Mikes into a 31st minute lead when his cross cum shot eluded Charlie Bannister to register Boldmere’s first goal of the campaign. It sparked of the visitor’s best spell of the game and several five man moves threatened to open up the Warwick defence on more than one occasion. In the event it was an individual effort from Jack Coates that almost doubled the lead. The midfielder striking the underside of the bar from twenty yards with a relieved Bannister turning around to collect the ball as it bounced clear. The home side always looked dangerous on the break with the pace of Adam Miles, Muzzy Nduna and Hilton threatening the Mikes defence albeit spasmodically at this stage. It seemed that the half time break would arrive with the goals against column unbreeched but with barely a minute to go parity was restored. An attempted left-wing raid was broken up before the combination of Miles and Brain set Hilton free. The Mikes defenders looked in vain for the offside flag as Hilton raced in on goal and despite the close attention of Harry Craven maintained his balance to fire home the equaliser.
On the resumption a sloppy opening at both ends epitomised what lay in store. Harry Sweeney failed clear convincingly and after a flurry Chris Johnson fired over. It was a let off and play switched to the other end. Owen Parry, at least a bundle of energy on the night, elected to pass a free kick across the box to Rico Taylor when normal service would seek the heads of Craven and Joe Lyng. The kick was wayward and summed up the second half performance. Seconds later Warwick took the lead Lyng was turned in the left back position and a fine cross found Fraser totally unmarked to head across Fenney into the far corner. Alister Brauns was carded for a last man foul that would on some occasions see a dismissal before Fraser helped himself to a second. A free kick deep in the left back position resulted in a curling ball eluding both defenders and the keeper to nestle in the far side of goal. Minutes later Lyng who had been booked between the second and third goals for a lunging tackle repeated the dose and it was no surprise when referee Nestor produced the yellow card and resultant red. Could things get any worse, indeed they could. Kyle Byrne had replaced Brauns in a beleaguered attempt to rescue the game but within five minutes of him joining the action Nduna and Brain had joined the scoresheet. Craven had hit the bar midway through the second period but it was an isolated offering as the Mikes finished the game totally dispirited.

The Mikes: Lewis Fenney, Ty Knight, Harry Sweeney, Jack Coates, Harry Craven, Joe Lyng, Jack Skinner, Owen Parry, Rikardo Reid, Rico Taylor, Alister Brauns (Kyle Byrne 67). Subs not Used: Joe Clarke, Barry Healey, Brad Lindsey, Charlie Morris
Racing Club Warwick: Charlie Bannister, Danny Brain, Danny Fraser, Sean Castleton, Scott Turner, Joseph Smith, Adam Miles, Chris Johnson (N Musungwana 72), Jarrell Hilton (Adam Knight 67), Muzzy Nduna, Jos Cole (George Curry 54). Subs not used: Chris Gumery, Jonathan Onyeaka