Brockham Badgers U13A had a day to forget against local rivals Old Dorkinians, as goals either side of half time turned the course of the game to the advantage of the visitors – despite Brockham controlling much of the opening half.

It looked good for Brockham in the first thirty minutes as they dominated the play, but apart from Ben Stokoe hitting the post early on, Dorkinians defended well so Badgers were unable to capitalise on their dominance.  Brockham were made to pay for their failure to take the lead as Dorkinians scored against the run of play five minutes from the interval. A good break ended with a simple strike as Badgers’ defence failed to tackle, despite having the opportunity to do so.

Almost a carbon copy goal just after half time then made it 2-0 and put Dorkinians in the driving seat.  Brockham did have a decent spell of pressure midway through the half, when Stephen Kehl and Mitch Ward both went very close to reducing the arrears, but the goal would not come and Dorkinians rubbed salt in the Brockham wounds with two goals in the final seven minutes to gain a deserved victory.  Lad of the match for Brockham went to Joe Parker for his determined display.

Brockham now play a home semi final in the U13s League Cup on Saturday, and will hope to get this poor result out of their system as soon as possible before a crucial run of games as they bid to save their Horsham and District A League status.

Team: Henry Warne, Joe Parker, Michael Carty, Matthew Gill, Tom Bletso, Jack Hunt, Bill Rowlands, Ollie Legg, Dylan Peters, Ryan Winter, Ben Stokoe, Stephen Kehl, Mitch Ward, Alex Postles

Brockham Badgers U13 Black secured an away win at bottom of the table Hurstpierpoint, dominating the game but restricted to just the one goal by a fine display from the home keeper.

Brockham dominated the first half, with Hurstpierpoint unable to trouble keeper George Corfield in the Brockham goal while, at the other end, a host of chances fell to Brockham.  Alex Marshall and Ollie Curtis had already hit the bar twice, while Curtis had seen several clear runs on goal thwarted by the Hurstpierpoint goalie before lad of the match Henry Smith scored a good individual goal. He surged down the left hand side before cutting into the box and slotting the ball under the keeper midway through the half.

Smith then won a penalty, which was well saved by the keeper, and Brockham should really have made the game safe by half time given their possession and chances in the game

The second half saw Hurstpierpoint make things more difficult for Brockham, without really creating any clear cut chances with David Atkinson and Sam Norkett once more in good form in the centre of the defence.  At the other end, Curtis, Toby Dowle, Smith and Tim Hopkins all went close to making the game safe, but Brockham were still able to close the game out and take all three points.

Team: George Corfield, Tim Hopkins, Tom Kinsey, Max Ruff, Sam Norkett, David Atkinson, Connor Mitchell (c), Toby Dowle, Alex Marshall, George Heyman, Henry Smith, Ollie Curtis

Brockham Badgers U12A recorded their fourth 7-goal tally of the season, and third 7-0 result, in beating Epsom Eagles Colts by the same score they had achieved in the home tie. In fairness to Epsom, they were only able to line up with ten players, but Badgers were missing their two wide midfielders, Brown and Edwards-Hedges, and to their credit they did not underestimate their opponents.

The scoring began in the eighth minute, Ben Knight-Sawyers running onto a ball played over the top by Oli Winter and shooting superbly into the far corner. But Brockham took a while to capitalise on their early advantage, as Eagles fought to keep in the game, showing some decent passing moves and creating a couple of chances.

Slowly though, the away side began to push up and play deeper into the Epsom half, as demonstrated by full back Will Mahoney getting forward on several occasions to take up good shooting positions. He got his reward at the third attempt with a firm, accurate strike into the bottom corner, and three minutes later it was 3-0 when George Coffey, influential throughout, converted a Harvey Mewis cross from the right.

Epsom Eagles battled throughout the game, trying their best to keep the scoreline down, and were saved on several occasions by their keeper, who came out swiftly to clear on many occasions. On the day, though, Brockham had too much of a grip on the midfield and too much flair going forward. They also had another strong performance in goal from Matthew Batts who, while not having his busiest match, did everything right and showed his increasing positional awareness and use of his area, earning himself the Man of the Match.

Four more goals were added in the second period. First, Mahoney’s lovely long ball forward was met by Dan Hetzel, whose fine effort from the edge of the box was well saved before Will Bletso followed up to tap in. Then, Knight-Sawyers added his second after a fine flowing move and, minutes later, from a corner, Hetzel gave the keeper no second chance with a pile driver. Alex Nicholson wrapped up proceedings a minute from time to give Badgers a 7-0 double over the Eagles.

Team: Matthew Batts, Will Mahoney, Matt Higgins, Alex Nicholson, Harry Kensett, Ross Bangs, Angus Hodge, Oli Winter, Harvey Mewis, Liam Ratcliffe, George Coffey, Ben Knight-Sawyers, William Bletso, Dan Hetzel

IThe U12Bs beat Ashington Cougars 1-0 to win the league title with two matches remaining.

A bright and very even start by both sides got the game underway in difficult blustery conditions. There was nothing too incisive from either side for the first ten minutes, until a long kick by keeper Michael Ellis released Ollie Kong on a run into the opposition half. He outstripped the defence but the Ashington keeper remained calm and took the ball away from his toes.

A few minutes later, a good through ball by Tim Hines found Kong in space, and once again the goalie proved too much. Brockham began to take control of the match in the midfield, with Moriarty imposing, and Hines, Jamie Hanwell and central defender Harry Kensett all going close with efforts on goal.

Daniel Crook, adding width on the right was also causing problems and his drive towards the bottom corner was superbly saved by the Ashington 'keeper. However, the Badgers' luck was to change a couple of minutes later as they scored with a superb team effort.  

The defence cleared quickly to Moriarty whose reverse pass found Hines. A first time through ball released Hanwell on the left, and his well-struck shot was pushed across the goal by the keeper, only for Dan Crook to gleefully smash the ball into the back of the net. A team goal worthy of the title, and one of the best of the season.

The second half was a more even affair, with both teams having breaks but unable to score. Ashington came closest with a quick breakaway which ended with the ball skimming the Badgers' crossbar. Ed Newman had a couple of good forward runs but, despite the best efforts from both sides, there were no more goals and the match finished 1-0 to Brockham.

Lad of the Match: Manager’s note
"Well done to the Brockham lads, all of whom have made a contribution to winning the league in tremendous style, without losing a match. You all receive the Lad of the Match today for a workmanlike and solid performance against a very good Ashington side who were motivated to stop us winning the league on their ground. Unfortunately due to the squad rotation system, not everyone could play today, but congratulations to the whole squad of sixteen."

A bright start, a strong finish and a solid defence gave Brockham Badgers U11A a good 2-0 win over Epsom and Ewell Colts.  In an exciting game, Brockham manager Jason Rabbetts was especially pleased with a rare clean sheet.

Brockham started at pace.  Player of the week, Ashley Marshall, and Lewis Wood competed strongly in the centre of midfield, and soon their work was rewarded.  Good interplay between Marshall and Sam Lloyd finished with a ball passed square to Jordan Martin, whose shot from twenty yards dipped over the keeper and into the net.

Perhaps with the comfort of a lead, the Brockham effort diminished.  Epsom & Ewell fought back and, for the middle period of the game, neither side could gain any advantage.  The Brockham defence was steady.  Chris Walton and Ali Masson intercepted attacks in the middle third of the pitch and gave James Rabbetts in goal a relatively quiet time.

With a hard tussle in midfield, unlocking the defences was difficult.  Both sides resorted to the ball behind or over the defence for forwards to run on to.  For Brockham, Martin was freed by Marshall, and forced a good save.  At the other end, Epsom & Ewell were channelling their attacks down the right, but Tom Charman’s pace was always sufficient to nullify the threat.

In the last five minutes, Brockham stepped up the pressure.  Once again, Martin was free down the right, and produced an excellent cross for Alex Flint to tap in.  Another good combination between Flint and Martin almost produced a third goal just before full time.

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

Worcester Park Colts took kick off and Brockham  U10As seized the ball and for a while it was rather 50-50 with no real attacking effort from either side.  Then the game started to become more exciting.   It was played at a very fast pace and, with about fifteen minutes on the clock, the ball rolled to Will who smashed it from long range under the keeper, into the bottom, left hand corner.   1 – 0 Brockham.

The match continued with both teams keeping the ball well.  Will tackled a Worcester Park player and put a through ball to Andy who slotted it home to double the lead.

After that, Alfie came on and continued Brockham’s great play which lead to a low, long ball which Alfie ran onto and, with speed and skill, he controlled it and slid the ball through the keeper’s legs.

In the second half, Worcester Park really went into attacking mode but Louis and Michael defended brilliantly – and when I say brilliantly I mean brilliantly! Tommy put in some very clever clearances, including one over his head, to get the ball away from our goal, but unfortunately, Worcester Park did manage to score.  After that goal, they pushed up the tempo even more and scored a second goal from a corner.

Both sides really put on the pace now with the ball going from one end of the pitch to the other, putting Ben, Louis and Michael under great pressure.  Ben made several excellent saves including one which was outstanding as he dived to his top left hand post and pushed the ball to safety.

Worcester Park did manage to score the equaliser though and then Brockham put in some excellent team work to try to score again.   Dom put through several long balls forward, one of which Harry very cleverly flicked on but the keeper saved it. 

After that, defending midfielders Dom and Ollo took on a very effective attacking role to support the strikers and keep the ball at the Worcester Park end.

With a few minutes to go Will and Harry had another chance to score but, sadly, it didn’t happen. The whistle blew and a very exciting match ended in a 3-3 draw.

Thank you to Graham for being Ref and to Lewis for being such a good coach.

There was a bit of confusion in the opening few minutes of play, as both teams tried to come to terms with the strong wind. The first goal mouth action was at the Brockham end where Bennett collected well from an ambitious Eagles shot.

Within two minutes the play flicked it’s way to the opposite end and Warne found Tilley with space at the edge of the area. Tilley controlled impressively and let fly with a shot that gave the keeper little chance and gave Brockham a 1-0 lead.

Albury picked themselves up and mounted more pressure, coming close with a flying header and, soon after, a stinger of a shot that went just wide.

The wind continued to be an influence and the pattern of play was one of twisting and turning with plenty of kick and run. Despite the blustery conditions, a positive approach and an increasing amount of good team play made for entertaining, if slightly unpredictable football.

Brockham were starting to combine neatly, with touch and run football. Turner showed some deft touches, Purcell worked like a Trojan and Tilley was always a threat. Teague showed his tenacity in midfield and was constantly looking to propel the team forward. Watson tirelessly covered great areas of the park, Killick stood resolute at the back and Warne pursued every ball winning opportunity. The home side went in at half time on top in every way, but there was still more to come from Albury.

No sooner had the second half started when Bennett was called upon to pick up a loose and dangerous ball from a packed Brockham penalty area. Brockham’s retort was to go straight into attack with a Turner/Watson push that nearly caught the visitors by surprise.

Albury were almost back on level terms after four minutes when they won a corner and the cross was met with a fiercely struck shot that clipped the bar - much to the Badgers’ relief.

For a period Albury began to win more of the 50-50 balls and were able to release their forwards into attack more effectively. However, the doggedness of Purcell and the nifty footwork from Turner continued to create openings for the home side.

On 13 minutes, after a decent long range effort by Teague went close, Brockham were caught out by the counter attack, as well orchestrated Albury passing wove through the Badgers’ defence for a simple tap in that brought the equaliser.

The closing stage of the game saw no let up of the adverse weather and at one point the goal was lifted into the air and deposited a metre behind the goal line!

There was plenty to shout about though, with a growing maturity in team build up play shining through the difficult playing conditions and the good natured game ended all fair and square.

Man of the Match: Joe Teague

Team: James Bennett, Daniel Killick, George Warne, Joe Teague, Ollie Turner, Rufus Watson, Jake Purcell

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