Matchday 2005-09-17

West Chiltington Youth 0 - 13 Brockham Badgers U15

After scoring five goals last week, and still only coming away with a point, the U15s made sure of victory this Satuday by slamming thirteen past West Chiltington. Sam Spall and Nathan Owen grabbed five apiece. Eddie Granville, Joe Burnard and Adam Geisler (with a fifteen yarder) were also on the scoresheet.

Ewhurst Juniors 2 - 5 Brockham Badgers U14b (played Wednesday 14th September)

The U14's bounced back from an 8-0 defeat last Saturday against Ockley Acorns, one of the highest ranked U14 teams to become part of the re-formed League system, to record a well-earned victory away to Ewhurst Juniors.

Brockham got off to a flying start firing in four first-half goals - the first coming from a Nathan Baker corner which was met superbly on the volley by new-signing Kyle Soane. The second also came from a corner, this time by Harry Sheppard, with Alex Wyatt pivoting to fire home. Sheppard then put Tom Spink through for the third and headed on for Nathan Baker to claim the fourth. Half time came after Ewhurst clawed one goal back in a goal-mouth scramble.

The second half saw each team score once more each - Badgers' goal coming from a long punt through by Baker for Spink to run on to and put past the keeper. The highlight of the half was keeper Navid Tomlinson's magnificent double save from a Ewhurst penalty.

Wednesday's lad of the match was awarded to James Boyman for his strong play in midfieldand Saturday 10th's award went to Dan Chipps whose was tireless in defence.

Broadbridge Heath 0 - 15 Brockham Badgers U14a

Partridge Green 7 - 1 Brockham Badgers U14b

Brockham Badgers U13b 5 - 2 Copthorne

The Badgers stormed back from their disastrous 13-0 loss the week before with an exceptional victory over Copthorne. A new defensive formation of Sourris, van Acoleyen, Bangs and Goddard provided a solid base to ensure the Badgers built flowing moves from the back, supported by fantastic team spirit and determination throughout.

A tight first half brought good chances for both sides, with Brockham fortunate not to concede from a Copthorne shot that spun off the inside of a post across the goal. With the snapping Goddard imperious, the Badgers held the balance of play and deserved a half time lead when Mackrell fed Knowles for a shot parried to Lloyd, precisely slotting home from a tight angle.

A fine run and shot from Owen shortly after the break was again parried by the keeper and captain Knowles coolly poached the rebound. Soon though Copthorne had wrested back the initiative, bundling in a goal from a corner before equalising as Brockham players stopped, wrongly awaiting a referee's whistle that never came.

A lesser team would have wobbled, but the Badgers simply upped their game, with Parker instrumental in driving the team forward, Brightman and Cooke supporting on the flanks. A fine through ball from the classy Mackrell was smoothly converted by Owen before Mann fed Mackrell to score shortly after. A late surge the length of the pitch from Van Acoleyen teed up a final goal for Knowles. With the job done, Dunleavy tipped a fine Copthorne drive round the post to cap a highly impressive performance from the team.

Brockham Badgers U12a 5 - 2 Copthorne

Brockham Badgers U11a 6 - 0 Lower Beeding Lions

Badgers U11A team continued their great form with a comfortable 6-0 victory over Lower Beeding Lions, to make it 16 goals scored and none conceded in the two games played this season.

Lad-of-the-match Ryan Winter terrorised the away defence with some fine wing play down the Brockham left, while Mitchell Ward similarly caused havoc down the right hand side of the pitch. Solid contributions from defenders Maxim Harper, Dominic Nicholls and Alex Postles, as well as combative play in the Brockham midfield from Stephen Kehl, Dylan Peters and Henry Hill, saw Brockham monopolise possession. It was no surprise when Badgers raced into a 3-0 halftime lead courtesy of a brace from Winter and a goal from Ward, Winter's second goal was a fine effort, after he received the ball from the opposition keeper's misplaced kick out, looked up and chipped the ball into the top right hand corner of the Lower Beeding goal.

The second half saw more of the same, although Brockham keeper Henry Warne had to maintain his concentration to keep out a couple of scambled efforts from the Lions. But it was all Brockham and Winter deservedly grabbed his hat-trick before Ward matched his team mate by notching his second and then his third goal late on - the sixth Badgers goal a beauty which saw Winter float in a corner for Ward to volley home first time.

Despite several efforts on goal, the pressure went unrewarded until the 17^th minute, when Ollie Winter picked the ball up outside the box, burst in on the left and crossed for George Coffey, who neatly tapped home for the opener. The Predators resistance had been broken, and 4 minutes later they fell further behind when a clearance fell kindly for George Coffey to grab his second and round off a masterful first half performance by the striker.

The Predators came out in determined mood for the second half and, after five minutes, benefited from an uncharacteristic lapse of concentration in the Badgers� defence to pull a goal back. Brockham tried to win back the initiative, with Angus Hodge battling in midfield and Harry Morland trying his luck several times with good long range efforts, but the game had become more balanced. Mole Valley enjoyed more of the possession and nearly grabbed an equaliser with a fierce shot, but keeper Michael Ellis reacted quickly to make a brilliant save low to his right. However, half way through the second period Badgers booked their place in the next round when Bertie Edwards-Hedges put in a high, teasing cross from the left corner flag which the Predators keeper could not gather cleanly on his line, and William Mahoney hooked the ball into the empty net. Brockham held firm, with Matthew Higgins and Ross Bangs outstanding throughout in defence and Alex Nicholson showing versatility when moving up into midfield. Another great team effort. Brockham Man of the Match: Michael Ellis.

U13b score against Copthorne on their way to an impressive 5-2 victory.

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Brockham Badgers U10b 1 - 2 Hook & Southborough

by Trevor Reaveley

After the majority of the team had been away on a school trip all week, not too much was expected from the Badgers, but were we to be proved wrong in the first home game of the season?

The match started off as quite a tussle for midfield possession with Hook & Southborough having the upper hand. There were some very timely challenges by Harry Kensett and Edward Newman as the last line of defence, and H&S had one superb long range effort bounce back off the post into the waiting arms of goalkeeper Matthew Batts.

After this initial onslaught by H&S, the Badgers began to gain confidence and clear their goalmouth. There were some good team runs upfield by Daniel Crook and Liam Ratcliffe, hoping to get striker Daniel Hetzel in on goal, but some very good, strong defending by the visitors denied any real shots on target.

After a period of sustained pressure by Brockham a long Hook clearance landed in the Brockham penalty area. There was a scramble of legs and they ball trickled over the goal line to give H&S the lead just before half time.

In the second half, Joshua Brown and William Bletso came on for Daniel Baty and Daniel Crook. The two new boys worked together to set Hetzel up with a shot on goal which was well saved by the H&S keeper. Brown then found himself defending his own goalmouth with an excellent overhead clearance from a shot destined for the back of the net.

It was turning into an end to end match with chances in both directions. Strong tackles by Newman and Kensett gave welcome relief as Brockham fashioned more attacks, but another scramble in the Brockham goalmouth saw Hook double their lead.

Upset by the way the 2 goals had been conceded, Brockham rallied themselves for a final fifteen minutes. End-to-end play ensued again, with Newman putting in a brave last man tackle in which he injured himself and was replaced by Crook. Hetzel was making fine progress up the wing and the H&S defenders were forcefully hussling him off the ball. The game was beginning to get more physical when Ratcliffe on the other wing was pulled back by his shirt and the ref had a few words to calm things down.

The last ten minutes saw Brockham in the ascendency, with a long range shot by Brown skimming over the bar and frantic defending by H&S leading to another shirt-pulling/pushing infringement to the Badgers down their right wing. Daniel Crook hit a good free kick into the area which was met by the boot of Ratcliffe to end up in the back of the net.

More good play followed, with Brockham desperate to get the equaliser. A good move involving Crook, Hetzel and Bletso ended with Brown shooting just wide. The resulting goal kick fell to the feet of Ratcliffe who also missed the target by inches. It wasn't to be Brockham's day as the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of a very physical game.

Ashtead Colts 1 - 1 Brockham Badgers U10c

Brockham were not able to turn their superiority into victory and ended with a draw against a spirited Ashtead side.

Brockham took control from the start, taking the game to Ashtead. Tim Hines finished a good move to give the Badgers an early lead, only to see the opposition fight back and equalise, with Ashtead finishing the half the stronger team.

In the second half, Brockham stepped up a gear but, despite a glut of chances, were unable to find the telling second goal. Ashtead defended well and could have snatched victory on the break had it not been for some fine goalkeeping by Simon Watson, and a few timely interceptions from Daniel Hall.

The match was played in good spirit but ended with the home manager the happier with the result.

The U10As take the game to their higher league opponents and book a place in the first round of the Cup.

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A first-half foray up the wing, to be frustrated by strong defending

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Thirteen is far from unlucky for the U15s, as they sweep to victory at West Chiltington.

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Albury Eagles 10 - 1 Brockham Badgers U11(White)

Upper Beeding 7 - 4 Brockham Badgers U11(Black)

Badgers Black team produced another good performance, losing in unfortunate fashion at Upper Beeding despite looking good at the interval. Indeed Badgers had looked the better side for the first period, Henry Smith scoring a fine goal mid-way through the half to reflect his side's dominance, while Alex Marshall's effort from an instinctive throw on from captain Thomas Bletso was somehow saved when a goal seemed certain. With the last kick of the half, Upper Beeding equalised from a cross-cum-shot which sailed over Badgers keeper George Corfield's head to give the home side a flattering equaliser.

It got worse for Badgers in the opening two minutes of the second half, as quick fire solo goals from the home side somehow gave Upper Beeding a 3-1 lead in a game in which they had been struggling to match their visitors. However, the Black team is gelling nicely into a close-knit unit, and joint lad-of-the-match Matthew Gill pulled a goal back after great work by Toby Dowle down the Brockham left.

Badgers surged forward and could have equalised several times, but naive defending saw two more solo goals for Upper Beeding against the run of play.

Badgers still did not give up, with the central midfield of Matthew Gill and Thomas Bletso, plus great work from defenders Robbie Ventham, David Atkinson, Tom Kinsey and Sam Norkett, driving the team forward. Two goals from Smith, justifiably claiming his hat-trick, made it 5-4. The U11 Badgers are new to 11-a-side football and perhaps with a few more games under their belt they would have had the experience to press for more goals without leaving themselves exposed at the back; but in a period of intense Badgers pressure, Upper Beeding broke to make it 6-4 with four minutes to go, despite a fine save by Corfield that deserved better than to see the ball fall at the feet of an opposition forward.

Even then Badgers had enough chances to pull it back, before Upper Beeding scored again on the break with the last kick of the game to give a final score that belies the tremendous effort and attitude of the team - which bodes well for the rest of the season.

Brockham Badgers U13a 6 - 3 South Park

Report by Graham Mackrell

The Badgers made it two wins from two as they struggled to overcome South Park, coming back from 2-0 and 3-1 to secure victory.

South Park started strong and were quickly 1-0 up after a defensive error left the goal open for an easy tap in. They soon made it 2-0 with a well taken goal which was slotted past Hardy. The Badgers were kept at bay and, to be fair, hardly had a shot on goal during the half.

Brockham started the second half stronger and had most of the play with McDonald, Holland and Mackrell (C) going close, before finally pullling a goal back to 2-1 when Robins pounced on to Andrews shot, which could only be parried by the keeper. Pushing for an equaliser, the Badgers changed formation and sacrificed Bayliss for another striker. The move backfired immediately, as South Park made it 3-1 after the Badgers defence failed to clear again.

Almost from the restart Mackrell (K) managed to poke the ball home from close range, after good work from Harvey and McDonald created the opening. It was 3-3 after Holland's shot was saved and rebounded off the post to Robins, who blasted the ball home from six yards. The Badgers sensed victory. Hales chased the ball down the wing and provided a telling cross, which Mackrell headed on for Lad-of-the-Match Robins to complete his hat-trick.

At the end, Hales showed some clinical finishing scoring two goals in the closing moments to complete the win that looked more comfortable on paper than it was in reality. Next week is the first round of the County Cup and is sure to be another hard fought affair.

Storrington Vipers 9 - 0 Brockham Badgers U12b

Aerial attacks. U12a lay siege to the Copthorne penalty area.

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A near miss (left) and launching another attack (right).

U11a on their way to a second consecutive victory - and yet to concede a goal.

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Mole Valley Predators 1 - 3 Brockham Badgers U10a

(Epsom and Ewell Mini League - Cup Preliminary Round)

Report by Simon Winter

After last weekend's winning start to our first-ever season in the Epsom & Ewell League the previous weekend, Brockham Badgers of Division 1 were drawn away to Premiership side Mole Valley Predators, in the Preliminary Round of the League Cup.

Any nerves the team may have had going into the game quickly vanished as they went at the Predators from the kick off, applying constant pressure with some quick, incisive passing - notably between the three front men George Coffey, Bertie Edwards-Hedges and William Mahoney.