Brockham Badgers U15A maintained their second spot in the division with a hard fought win at Horley Town.  It was a game of two halves played under the floodlights at Horley Town FC on a Friday night before a good crowd at the New Defence. The home side took a 2-0 advantage into half time before Badgers found their stride.

Brockham did not have a good first half, with Horley scoring from a corner then a penalty, and only a fine performance from Lad of the Match Connor Mitchell in the Brockham goal kept the away side from facing an even worse defecit at half time. 

But the second half saw Brockham step up their performance levels.  A few minutes after the break, Stephen Kehl twisted and turned his way into the box before firing past the keepe. Kehl then turned provider as he crossed deep for full-back Joe Parker to head his first ever Brockham goal and make it 2-2.

Brockham were flying now, and Ollie Legg soon made it 3-2 before Henry Hill made the game safe with ten minutes to go.  The icing on the cake was served up when Jamie Salmon’s shot squirmed past the keeper for a score that slightly flattered the Badgers, but boosted the goal difference nonetheless.

Scoop Lad of the Match: Connor Mitchell

Squad: Connor Mitchell, Henry Smith, Tim Hopkins, Joe Parker, Tom Bletso (c), Jack Hunt, Michael Carty, Ollie Smith, Ollie Legg, Jamie Salmon, Stephen Kehl, Henry Hill, Ben Stokoe, Liam Doyle

The U15Bs picked up their first win of the season after a dominant performance in the second half. 

The first half was an even affair, Brockham taking the lead through Dan Hoad and Horsham equalising soon after from a corner. 

Brockham made it 2-1 when Lad of the Match Josh Caldwell latched on to a deflected save from the keeper, but Horsham once more got back into the game almost straight away when a fine overhead kick from Tigers, following a corner, found the net despite a valiant attempt to head the ball off the line by James Stone.

All square at half time, but Brockham were a different side in the second half.  A fine through ball from captain David Atkinson saw Caldwell through on goal, Caldwell’s shot finding the net with a good finish.  Then Dex Bass played a great ball through to Caldwell who claimed his hatrick with another deft strike. 

At 4-2 Brockham were on top and Hoad, Caldwell and Max Ruff almost extended the lead.  Towards the end of the game, Horsham came back, hitting the bar, then pulling the score back to 4-3 with three minutes to play. 

But Brockham did not panic and George Corfield’s half volley put an accurate reflection on the scoreline with the final kick of the game.

Scoop Lad of the Match: Josh Caldwell

Squad: George Corfield, Ben Wright, Daniel Ryan, Max Ruff, Dhilen Patel, James Stone, David Atkinson, Sam Macfarlane, Dex Bass, Josh Hook, Will Sprange, Stefan Issberner, Dan Hoad, Josh Caldwell

Brockham Badgers U14A went to one of last season’s promoted sides, Meadow Sports, and fell short of their normal high standards in going down to a 3-1 defeat.

The tone was set in the very first minute when Meadow scored from their first attack, running too easily through a back four that was caught too square.

Although Brockham recovered to gain a foothold in the match and to keep the score to 1-0 at the break, they were not convincing  and too often were second to the ball and seemingly lacking ambition. Going forward, too much was played straight through the middle when width was a better option. More than anything, they failed to rouse each other vocally.

The half-time talk must have struck a chord though as Badgers came out and, after just two minutes, were level. Chris Brooks, who worked tirelessly all through the match up front, drove into the box and played in his strike partner Harry Ramsey, who finished in style.

Brockham then had a fifteen minute spell in which they looked the more likely winners, Lad of the Match Ross Bangs showing more urgency and tenacity than most. But a strange lethargy soon set in and Dennis Rapson in the Badgers’ goal was suddenly very busy. Fortunately he was up to the task and showed good positional sense and tactical awareness, coming off his line well and claiming the high balls when called upon.

On 51 minutes, however, he was powerless to prevent a really soft headed goal as his defence allowed Meadow too much time and space. Ten minutes later he made a superb one-handed save but, just four minutes later, the home side made the game safe, taking advantage of a charitable Brockham defence for the third time.

These two sides are of a similar standard, but Brockham will have to show more fight if they want to match their third-placed finish of last season.

Squad: Dennis Rapson, Will Mahoney, Matt Higgins, Alex Nicholson, Ross Bangs, William Bletso, Josh Brown, Oli Winter, Liam Ratcliffe, Harvey Mewis, Mike Richardson, George Coffey, Harry Ramsey, Chris Brooks

Brockham and Stoneleigh faced each other for the second consecutive weekend, and Stoneleigh came away with victory again in this very entertaining Cup clash.

The game opened with both teams carrying on from last weekend and paying a lot of respect for each other. Exchanges in the early stages were evenly matched with Brockham playing some good forward passing movements, and Stoneleigh breaking out from defence.

The Brockham formation was changed with Jack Heaselwood coming into midfield to allow Mat Batts the chance to play as the lead striker. Fynn Simister started on the right, and Ed Newman replaced Rory Gale as centre back, alongside Dan Hetzel as sweeper. But Stoneleigh were the more dangerous team and it took a last gasp interception from Tom Barnes to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity.

Then Tom Wells made a terrific save, touching the ball onto his post as a shot from outside the box whistled goalwards.

Two minutes later, Stoneleigh took the lead with a classy goal, as their left winger burst into the box and cracked a diagonal shot into the far corner.

With only one goal in it, Brockham started the second half on the offensive. Fynn Simister was causing Stoneleigh problems down the right flank, and Jack Heaselwood moved into a more forward role to beef up the attack.

When Stoneleigh broke out, there was some very solid defending from Killner and Barnes, with Dan Hetzel using a combination of vision, skill and pace to restrain the Stoneleigh attackers.

But as the match wore on, it wasn’t to be Brockham’s day up front. Jamie Hanwell, on for Batts, played Heaselwood through, only to see his shot come back off a defender on the line. Simister forced a couple of corners with good work on the right, but it wasn’t to be.

As Brockham committed more into attack in the last few minutes, the inevitable happened and Stoneleigh finally managed to score the decisive goal to ensure they will be in the draw for the next round of the Cup.

But a good performance by Brockham who have now demonstrated that they are not out of their depth in this league, with many of the lads turning in good committed performances.

Joint Lads of the Match: Tom Barnes for his hallmark commitment and brave defending; and  Fynn Simister for his impactful contribution on the right of midfield.

Simon Vakeva-Baird’s romping runs down the left and Jordan Martin’s pace up front, supported by the dynamic midfield partnership of Oscar Cremmen and Lewis Wood, were tearing into Claygate Royals and threatening to turn this game into a very one sided encounter - and yet it was the Badgers that were trailing by half-time and ruing their missed chances.

Not one, not two or three, but seven open goal chances in the first twenty minutes for Brockham Badgers and no goals to show for it started to make the home fans wonder if it was going to be another one of those games.  The woodwork, a touch-in from one yard that went vertically over the cross bar and five one-on-ones that were put wide were finally joined by a shot from Sam Lloyd that hit the back of the net.  Brockham were dominating possession and it was surely going to be good day at the office now that the deadlock was broken.

Unfortunately, there’s never a dull moment with the Brockham U13As this season and, within minutes, they gave away a penalty after the Badgers’ keeper James Rabbetts brought down a Claygate striker advancing on goal.  The spot kick was put away confidently and Brockham were left scratching their heads wondering how they weren’t out of sight.

Brockham continued to maintain 70% possession and yet things got worse.  A Claygate corner was cleared from the box but was looped back in and over Rabbetts to put Claygate ahead shortly before the referee blew up for half-time.  Three attacks and Claygate had scored twice.  With the same ratio of return Brockham would have been ahead by ten.

The Badgers took this positivity into the second half which continued with the pattern of play that had seen Brockham dominate the first.  Fortunately this time the black and whites made it count.  Vakeva-Baird received a ball on the outside left of the 18-yard box and hit it first time.  The ball arced over the Royals defence and tucked itself out of reach of their keeper into the top right of the net.

Martin, who was roasting the blue and reds backline for pace, at last got a shot off on target.  An early ball from Luke Brightman found its way behind the Royals defence for Martin to run onto and finish neatly one-on-one with the keeper.

A succession of similar chances then followed with the same familiar result as those pinged to the Claygate goal in the first half, until Martin changed tack and decided to take the ball on further and round the keeper before despatching a shot from his weaker left foot and grabbing his second goal and Brockham’s fourth.

Charlie Clark and Jamie Luckins came on for the bright Lloyd and Brightman and instantly made an impact.  Clark received the ball inside right and

Luckins’ clever overlap left Clark’s marker in two minds which to follow.  Clark intelligently took his opportunity and placed a great through ball to Vakeva-Baird advancing down the left who finished from ten yards and secured Brockham their first win in the Surrey Youth Premier League this season.  Onwards and upwards.

Lad of the Match:  Lewis Wood

Brockham Badgers U13B continued their league campaign with a 7-0 win over Maidenbower, keeping a 100% record.

The team came out and dominated the game from the start, passing the ball between players with confidence as they created several chances. But a resilient Madenbower side defended in numbers making it difficult to get through.

It was only a matter of time however and the opportunity finally came when a superb cross in from Nathan Hughes on the left wing came into the box and a sharp Matthew Rankin was on the end to put it away. The game carried on at the same pace and the second goal soon came. More good passing football enabled Justin Tarrant to drive the ball home.  

The second half saw Brockham come out strongly again and soon it was Charlie Clarke who saw an opportunity, running on to the ball and put it past the keeper. More well disciplined passing saw further attempts at goal and William Sanderson got the fourtth with a well hit ball from just inside the box.

The next goal came from Man of the Match ‘Captain Jack’  Coppins with a peach from outside the penalty area -running in he looked up and drove the ball with his left into the back of the net beating the keeper convincingly.

'Tinker man’ Coach Jason Hughes changed the tactics by going from four to three across the back and putting Cameron Boychuk up front. This soon payed off. With excellent positional play he was on the end of a crossed ball to volley it home and make it six for the Badgers.

Maidenbower had a resurgence at this time with a couple of well played moves, attacking a weakened defence so ‘tinker man’ strengthened the back again. With Harvey Boothroyde and Tom Hampshire in the centre this soon stopped the attacking players.  

A final chance came to the hard working James Rabbetts and he took a well earned goal to make it seven.

With all goals taken by individual players this was truly a team effort. Other notable performances came from Cameron Wallace keeping another clean sheet in goal, and Oliver Teague and Archie Knight in defence keeping the opposition out. Although Brockham dominated, it should also be mentioned that the Maidenbower team wer never disheartened and kept playing hard until the end.

Squad: Cameron Wallace, Archie Knight, Tom Hampshire, Harvey Boothroyde, William Sanderson, Oliver Teague, Justin Tarrant, Jack Coppins, Nathan Hughes, Steven Holmes, Cameron Boychuk, Charlie Clarke, James Rabbetts, Matthew Rankin

The game kicked off to a slightly untidy start. Both teams seemed evenly matched and the game flowed to both ends, but genuine scoring opportunities were few and far between. With the centre of the park at once seeming crowded, play was at times a bit scrappy.

Turner's sprint down the wing after twelve minutes tested the home defence and shook the game up. A few minutes later Potts picked up a stray ball at the half way mark and galloped all the way towards the goal, but his ensuing shot went narrowly wide.

Brockham put the hosts under pressure with more forays forward. It eventually paid off after 24 minutes, when Lane's clearance split the midfield and was tapped sideways by Potts to a well positioned Teague. The forward's response was immediate and effective; he rifled in a belting shot to open the scoring.

Maidenbower gave a full bodied response and went close within minutes, with a cleanly hit long range shot. The Badgers rounded the half off with some attractive interplay but no further goal mouth action.

Into the second half and, after an initial uncertain period, it was Turner again who broke through first and livened up the encounter. His determined attack was only checked with the goal in sight.

However, Brockham's commitment began to falter somewhat and their early work woke up Maidenbower, who were now winning more of the ball.  On eleven minutes the home side brought out a succession of classy saves from keeper Warne. The first and second of which were full stretch saves within seconds of each other. The third was an extraordinary reactive save from a goal-bound looping Maidenbower shot.

Midway through the half it was the visitors turn to pressurise and Potts showed his pace and tenacity with a couple of long runs forward. He unnerved the home team's defence and came within a whisker of increasing his side's tally with the keeper all but beaten.

On twenty minutes, Warne produced the moment of the match with a quite magical point blank save from a stunned United forward, who seemed certain he would score.

Brockham's joy was short lived though as Maidenbower hit the equaliser with only two minutes left on the clock. There was too little time left to add to the score and the game finished even.

Man of the Match: Sam Potts

Squad: Kemal Dogansoy, Jamie Donegan, Jordan Heather, Daniel Killick, Dominic Lane, Sam Potts, Jake Purcell, Joe Teague, Ollie Turner, Jacob Vaughan, George Warne, Rufus Watson, Oakley Wheeler.

On the first frosty morning of the season, it was another slow start from the U10As as they took on Hearts Lions A.  The fluid passing and movement which became their trademark last year was nowhere to be seen in the first half. 

Either side could have taken the lead, however it was Aidan Torpey again who put the Badgers ahead.  The Hearts goalkeeper did well to block a couple of quick shots, however the ball found its way to the feet of Torpey, who quickly poked it nto the back of the net.  

Clearly there were a few firm words from the coach at half time as a different team appeared for the second half. Their movement and passing had returned and it was hard to keep count of the number of shots that either hit the upright, the cross bar or were well saved by the Hearts keeper.   

At the other end Hearts pushed hard for an equalizer, but Harry Fairley in the Brockham defence gave a repeat performance of the previous week – snuffing out any threat on goal. 

For a team not at their best it was a good win for the Badgers, but they need to move up a few gears if they are going to successfully defend their title.    

Squad: Harry Fairley, Callum Glenn, Justin Hurst, Joseph Issberner, Aidan Torpey, Max Austin, Matthew Ford, Fergus McGoogan