LEAMINGTON suffered a first-half collapse in a 4-1 home defeat against promotion-chasing Chester as the Brakes finished the game with 10-men.
The Brakes conceded twice in the opening 10 minutes as Charlie Caton and Tom Peers both found the net before Kurt Willoughby extended the away side’s lead just past the half-hour mark.
And Leamington then had Dan Meredith sent off in first-half injury time before Harrison Burke’s goal compounded the home side’s misery at the Your Co-Op Community Stadium.
Paul Holleran’s men scored a consolation goal courtesy of Will Shorrock as the Brakes suffered their first defeat of the New Year.
The match also saw Jack Edwards break Leamington’s modern-day appearance record as he played in his 437th game for the club.
The result means Leamington sit 17th in the National League North table, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Chester broke the deadlock after just seven minutes when Declan Weeks squared the ball across goal to Caton who applied the finish.
And the visitors struck again three minutes later as Peers nodded into an empty net after Callum Hawkins could only parry Jack Bainbridge’s venomous volley.
The Seals all but made sure of the points on 34 minutes when Willoughby slipped a shot past Hawkins into the net.
Leamington’s night went from bad to worse when a bizarre incident saw the referee stop the game and show Meredith a straight red card, seemingly for dissent, in first-half injury time.
And Chester made the most of the extra man as an unmarked Burke stole in to bundle home Weeks’ free-kick from the left.
The Brakes grabbed a consolation goal on 79 minutes when Shorrock combined with fellow substitute Joe Clarke and drove a shot into the net but it proved too little, too late.
Leamington are next in action against Darlington on Saturday, January 18 with kick-off at 3pm at the Your Co-Op Community Stadium.
