Leamington 2 Telford 2 - Report and pictures

There were two goals in each half and a penalty miss in what was a lively affair at the New Windmill Ground.

The Brakes broke the deadlock early on as Matt Stenson struck from the spot. Adam Dawson levelled before the break, with his first goal for the club - a terrific free-kick.

The Bucks went in front shortly after the interval, through a fine Andre Brown header. Brown then missed from 12 yards after Jamie Hood got himself on the scoresheet.

It means Gavin Cowan's side have finished August with four victories and three draws. They sit third in the embryonic table.

Telford made five changes from the side which began Saturday's 3-1 victory against Chester. Dawson, Brown, Jon Royle, Dom Smith and Ryan Sears - back from suspension - came in. Daniel Udoh, having scored twice against the Blues, was eager to carry on his hot streak against another former club. He started up front alongside Brown.

Former Bucks duo Callum Gittings and Kieran Dunbar were in from the off for the hosts, with Anthony Dwyer and Chekaine Steele, who were at Telford last season, on the Brakes bench.

So many switches were necessary for Cowan due to the players having so little time to recover from Saturday's heroics, but you did wonder whether they would upset the apple cart. For Dawson, it was a big chance to impress following some lively displays as a substitute.

Leamington's aim was to unsettle the Bucks early on by pressing high and putting in firm challenges - and it worked. Just seven minutes in, they were awarded a penalty after, with several yellow shirts around him, Ellis Deeney was deemed to have deliberately handled the ball.

Stenson stepped up to the spot and confidently sent Max Bramley the wrong way to give the home side the lead. Had the Leicester City loanee guessed right, he still probably would not have saved it - Stenson put it right into the bottom corner, at great speed.

The Brakes looked very sharp. They were not giving Telford room to breathe. Bramley had to be quick to keep out a low drive from Gittings. As the half-hour mark approached though, Leamington lost a little steam. Their tackles were late and Joe Clarke was shown a yellow card for a pretty reckless lunge on Udoh.

The Bucks were finding more and more pockets of space and, before long, grabbed an equaliser. Dawson was tripped on the edge of the box and made no mistake from the resulting free-kick, lifting the ball over the wall and finding the net via the fingertips of Leamington skipper Tony Breeden. The keeper perhaps could have got more on it but, credit to Dawson, it was a fierce strike from 20 yards.

Neither team made a switch for the start of the second half, which Telford started in excellent fashion - Dawson going from scorer to provider as they went ahead. Running down the right-hand side, he lifted his head up and supplied a superb cross. Brown came up with an equally as impressive header to beat Breeden. The forward perfectly used the power of the delivery to guide the ball home.

The Bucks then seemed more confident - Udoh and Henry Cowans catching the eye with some fancy footwork. The Brakes soon put that to a halt, though, with Hood firing in from close range. The ball bounced around the six-yard area following a corner and, finally, Hood poked in at the far post.

Straight up the other end, Telford were handed an opportunity to regain the advantage. Brown was bundled over by James Bowen and a spot kick was awarded but, after a long wait due to a bit of gamesmanship from Leamington, Brown's effort was stopped by Breeden. It was not an awful attempt, but at a nice height to save.

Dunbar then smacked the post for the Brakes. It was end-to-end stuff and it appeared there would be another goal before the end. Looking to make sure they at least came away with a point, Cowan brought on Theo Streete and Darryl Knights for Sears and Dawson for the final 20 minutes.

The Bucks could well have grabbed a winner but Royle blazed over from six yards.

Teams

Leamington (4-5-1): Breeden (c); English, Mace, Hood, Bowen; Dunbar, Gittings, Clarke, Edwards, Taylor; Stenson (Dwyer, 82)

Subs not used: Magunda, Steele, Obeng, Morris

Telford (4-4-2): Bramley; Sears (Streete, 72), Sutton (c), Smith, White; Dawson (Knights, 72), Deeney, Royle, Cowans; Brown, Udoh

Subs not used: McQuilkin, Barnes-Homer, Wycherley (gk)

Attendance: 812

Referee: Thomas Parsons (Loughborough)