After a weather-enforced break of three weeks from their last game, the U13As were pleased to get a game under their belts as they twice came from behind to deservedly win at Storrington. 

Fielding almost a full squad, with only injured Matthew Gill sitting out the game, it was Storrington who started the game the quicker despite an early chance for Brockham's Mitch Ward who saw the keeper save when put through on goal.  Storrington took the lead on fifteen minutes, a good strike from outside the box giving Brockham keeper Henry Warne little chance, but Brockham equalised five minutes later. It followed good work from Joe Parker, before Dylan Peters put Stephen Kehl through on goal. Kehl made no mistake to send Badgers in all square at the interval.

Brockham were on top early in the second half, although it was Storrington who regained the lead against the run of play.  From the centre kick, Brockham drew level, Michael Carty finding Kehl who beat the offside trap and scored his second.  It got even better for Kehl and his team five minutes later when he once more sprung the Storrington defence to put Brockham in the lead for the first time in the game.  Before Brockham had taken the lead, brave blocks on the line from defenders Tim Whybrow and Thomas Bletso prevented what looked like a certain goal for Storrington.

Badgers were on top in the closing stages, and further goals from Ryan Winter with a neat finish and then a thunderous shot from lad of the match Jack Hunt from the edge of the area -  after good work from Ben Stokoe – sealed the victory at 5-2.

Team: Henry Warne, Alex Postles, Joe Paker, Tim Whybrow, Tom Bletso, Jack Hunt, Michael Carty, Dylan Peters, Bill Rowlands, Ben Stokoe, Mitch Ward, Stephen Kehl, Ryan Winter, Henry Hill

The U13 (Blacks) enjoyed a bumper away day at Twin Oaks on Saturday, overcoming the cold overcast conditions in an electrifying second period.  Twin Oaks had pushed Brockham all the way to the league title last season but this year, after both sides had been promoted to a higher league, Badgers seem to have adapted to the better standard the quicker.

An even ten minutes was broken when Ollie Curtis added to his tally for the season, by putting Badgers ahead with a close range effort.  A more spectacular goal from Curtis, with a run on goal and shot over the keeper, made it 2-0 on the half hour, and Toby Dowle's strong run was just denied by the home keeper just before the interval. George Corfield then pulled off a great save just before the whistle to keep Badgers 2-0 up at half time.

A slow start saw Brockham concede within two minutes of the restart, but the Badgers soon regained their two goal lead when William Bletso followed in a Brockham shot to nick the ball into the net ahead of the keeper.  Toby Dowle then made it 4-1, but Twin Oaks were still causing some problems at this point, and it was only really in the final fifteen minutes that Badgers ran riot, as their fast attacking play wore out the home side.

Henry Smith was involved in many of the attacks to great effect as first Bletso grabbed his second with a shot from outside the box, then Ollie Legg extended the lead.  Further goals for Alex Marshall, Curtis and Bletso gave Curtis and Bletso their hatricks and Badgers an emphatic win to send the side into Christmas in a good frame of mind.

Team: Corfield, Ruff, Atkinson, Ventham, Mithchell, Dowle, Marshall, Legg, Smith, Curtis, Bletso, Heymann

Brockham Badgers U12A made it through to the last 16 of the Surrey Cup for the second year running, with a stirring second-half display at Sanderstead Athletic’s frosty but just-playable pitch.

Missing key central defender Matt Higgins for the first time since anyone could remember, Badgers had to reshuffle their defence, with captain Ross Bangs coming into the middle and Angus Hodge taking his place at left back. Both players rose admirably to the challenge, Bangs looking completely at ease and Hodge playing his best game of the season, picking up the Man of the Match award for his efforts.

Further up the pitch, however, Brockham took longer to settle, and were dominated by the Tandridge League side for much of the first period, Sanderstead providing a physical challenge that the Brockham boys found hard to counter, conceding possession all too easily. The half ended goalless, but just two minutes into the second period, the home side took a deserved lead. First, Matthew Batts got down well to turn a free kick inside the box round the post but, from the resulting corner, could do nothing about a strong close range header.

One of Brockham’s greatest qualities has always been their will to win, and they showed this once again by bouncing straight back. Within a minute, Oli Winter played a precise ball through the Sanderstead defence which Josh Brown, coming in from the right, planted wide of the keeper with his left foot from fifteen yards.

This seemed to relax the Badgers, who began to keep hold of the ball with more conviction, and pass it with more composure and, six minutes later, they took the lead. A corner was helped on across the box by Liam Ratcliffe, who made a battling contribution in midfield, and Bertie Edwards-Hedges was on hand to smash it into the top corner in his trademark fashion.

Victory was sealed twelve minutes from time with the best goal of the game. George Coffey, an incisive and skilful attacker throughout, picked out Josh Brown once again, and he provided another superb finish with a low shot that gave the Sanderstead keeper no chance.

Team: Matthew Batts, Will Mahoney, Alex Nicholson, Ross Bangs, Angus Hodge, Josh Brown, Oli Winter, Harvey Mewis, Liam Ratcliffe, Bertie Edwards-Hedges, George Coffey, William Bletso, Ben Knight-Sawyers, Dan Hetzel.

Badgers had to improvise in their formation for this match with Michael Ellis replaced in goal by Daniel Crook, Luka Killner filling in at centre half for Harry Kensett;and Ollie Kong playing in an unfamiliar holding midfield role in place of Andrew Watson. Axel Davis came in from a long lay-off to lead the line.

Unfortunately for Southwater, the formation worked well and the match was dominated from start to finish by Brockham in the cold, wintry conditions.

Tom Moriarty opened the scoring outpacing the Southwater defence to crash in the first goal. Daniel Hall, also returning to the first team after a few weeks' absence, chipped in with two good finishes from close range, and Jamie Hanwell scored a trade mark goal from the left side.

The second half continued with a little Southwater resistance, and Daniel Crook had to make a couple of good stops, but Ed Newman and Luka Killner were mostly in complete control at the back.

For the Badgers, Tim Hines was playing some effective through balls and almost scored from a couple of chances; and Ollie Kong was powerful with surging runs out of defence, and providing a good link with the forwards.

Axel Davies had threatened to score throughout the match and when his goal came it was a beauty. He slalomed through the Southwater defence before picking his spot. And, not to be out-done, Ollie Kong wrapped up the scoring in the last few minutes with a clever finish.

A good performance by the whole team which earns them a welcome Christmas break.

Lads of the Match: Luka Killner & Ed Newman – solid and strong in their teamwork at the back.

Team: D Crook, T Barnes, E Newman, L Killner, D Baty, T Nokes, O Kong, DJ Hall, T Moriarty (c), T Hines, J Hanwell, A Davies.

After being outplayed for the whole game, Brockham Badgers U11A mounted a final dramatic effort to snatch a point from NPL A, their nearest league rivals. 

Brockham started slowly and allowed NPL to dictate the style of play.  With a bigger, more physical team, allied to a good passing game, NPL dominated the midfield throughout and most of the game was played in the Brockham half.

In the first half, Brockham were saved by their defence.  James Rabbetts, player of the week, athletically kept out several NPL shots.  Chris Walton was superbly positioned to clear two shots off the line.  Lewis Wood was tenacious sweeping up in front of the back four.  But with the Brockham midfield and attack unable to find space, NPL picked up possession easily.

In a rare foray up field, Brockham forced four consecutive corners. Good interplay between William Pereira and Ashley Marshall led to a Pereira cross which Alex Flint flicked past an unsighted keeper, giving Brockham an unexpected lead.  But within a couple of minutes NPL hit the post and a minute later a fast strike down the right and a hard shot levelled the score.

After the break, NPL increased the pressure and, midway through the half, pulled ahead.  Brockham supporters were pessimistic, but the final five minutes turned the game on its head.  From a Brockham corner Alistair Masson forced the ball home in a six yard box melee.  A couple of minutes later another Brockham corner was deflected past the keeper by an NPL defender. In a thrilling finish, NPL managed to convert their final attack, to draw level.

Player of the Week: James Rabbetts

Captain's Comment:
"We started off under pressure. But we got a goal scored by Alex Flint. But NPL got a goal back. At half time it was 1-1. NPL scored another goal after half time. Brockam got a goal back. After that we scored another goal. But at the end of the match it was 3-3 . We didn't play very well but we got one point."
Ashley Marshall

Team: Cameron Boychuk, Luke Brightman, Tom Charman, Alex Flint, Luc Jhugroo, Sam Lloyd, Ashley Marshall (c), Jordan Martin, Alistair Masson, William Pereira, James Rabbetts, Chris Walton, Lewis Wood

Badgers started brilliantly, playing nice football, and Andy Kehl slotted it in from a tight angle to make it 1–0 after five minutes.

Badgers kept up the pressure on the Caterham defence with Harry Morris creating lots of chances for midfielders Andy Kehl, Will Hearn and Dom O`Brien but unfortunately none of them went in.

Caterham kept going and nicked an equalizer. Alfie Edwards battled really well making some confident tackles to halt the Pumas advance. However a lapse in concentration from the Brockham defence allowed Caterham to get through and score another just before the break to make it 2–1 to Caterham at half-time.

The second half started with a tight battle in midfield. Badgers stepped up the pace in the last ten minutes with Tommy Gill, Badgers' striker, making a good turn and shooting on the edge of the area but it went just wide.

Will Hearn and Dom O`Brien made good wavy runs to pass the ball through to Tommy Gill but Caterham defended well. The muddy pitch made it heavy going so Andy Kehl tried a couple of long shots but neither beat the Caterham goalie. Michel Tsmekis made some vital clearances with Ben Giles stopping anything that came near the goal to ensure there were no more goals for Caterham.  

In the second half of the season, Badgers are looking forward to building on their success and pushing for promotion.

From the kick-off, Brockham gained possession quickly, with a first shot by Kemal Dogansoy blasting  just past the goal. A second shot by Dogansoy was superbly saved by the keeper only as far as Fletcher King, whose shot unfortunately went wide.

Tadworth found themselves defending Brockham’s blistering pace, but a good one-two by Tadworth created the opening for them to score the first goal and leave Brockham stunned, after they had enjoyed all the play.

But the Badgers weren’t disheartened and every player deserves a mention for their enthusiasm, creating yet more chances. It was from one of these chances that Dogansoy beat several Tadworth players to bag the equalizer.

Brockham were back in the game and good pressure saw further chances for Dogansoy and Chris Collis. But the second Brockham goal came from a misskick by the Tadworth goalie, Dogansoy taking great pleasure in slotting the ball home for a 2-1 lead.

The last minute of the half saw Edward Denham bring the ball from defence with a couple of shots that, luckily for Tadworth, were deflected away.

The second half saw much of the same with Brockham having most of the possession. A good interception by Jamie Donegan led to a shot that went just past the post.

But Tadowrth hadn’t given up. A big kick out of defence went straight to their striker. His shot was bravely saved by Jacob Vaughan, only to be returned into the back of the net for an equaliser.

With five minutes left, Brockham’s pressure paid off. Denham, up from defence, helped the ball onto Dogansoy who found Collis waiting to tap in the decider - 3-2 to Brockham.

The whole team played outstandingly today with a well deserved three points

Man of the match: Edward Denham for not giving up and listening

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