Royal United 2 - 5 Brockham Badgers U16

Brockham Badgers U15 6 - 1 Billingshurst Youth

Another great performance by the U15s made it six league wins in a row, maintaining second place in the league and keeping up the pressure on the other teams challenging for honours.

Brockham got off to a good start with Nathan Owen opening the scoring after just eight minutes but, having secured the early advantage, the boys sat back a little and allowed Billingshurst back into the game. The visitors duly equalised - but the goal served only as a wake-up call to Brockham, who went on to dominate the half, scoring three more goals. At the back, some solid defending restricted Billingshurst to only the occasional chance.

The half-time break failed to throw Brockham out of their stride, as they continued to dominate with a good passing game resulting in two more goals.

There were great performances from Joe Filgate, Nathan Owen and Michell Alsabti (making his debut in the black and white stripes).

Man-of-the-match: Eddie Granville

Steyning Strikers 0 - 1 Brockham Badgers U14a

Report by Gordon Walker

What a difference a week makes - not to mention a few different players. In this league encounter, Steyning were definitely out to avenge last week’s seven-nil defeat in the cup to Brockham.

Brockham found it far more difficult to break down the Steyning defence and created a fraction of the chances they had enjoyed the previous week. At the other end, the Steyning attack were lively but superb performances, in particular by Theo Mizzi and Michael Shaw, meant they had few actual chances.

Goaless at half time, Brockham came out in the second half and, for the next ten minutes, looked to have taken command. However they still failed to convert and, as time progressed, a draw was beginning to look a definite possibility.

After scoring seven with some ease last week, it was somewhat unexpected that the only goal of this encounter should end up being of the ‘own’ variety. A goal mouth scramble that seemed to last forever and in which almost every player seemed to be involved, culminated with the ball in the back of the net.

In the end, credit is due to the Strikers for bouncing back so well from last week. For Brockham, this win moves them to fourth in the league.

Ockley Acorns 5 - 0 Brockham Badgers U14b

Brockham Badgers U13a 7 - 1 AFC Walcountians

Brockham Badgers U14b 4 - 5 Chiddingfold

Report by Martin Bangs

A late Chiddingfold breakaway goal, at the end of a scintillating game, cruelly denied the Badgers reward for a stunning comeback against the Division C high flyers.

A flowing and highly entertaining game saw Brockham struggle to cope with the wickedly quick Chiddingfold attack in the first half, with Dunleavy peppered with shots throughout. Four eventually found their way through. The Badgers still contributed fully to the game - but registered only with a half-volley from Mackrell. At 4-1 down, echoes of the sorry 13-0 loss to the same side on the first day of the season would have been heard loud and clear by many teams.

But submission was not on the cards this time. A penalty soon after the interval, snaffled at the second attempt by Goddard, triggered a sumptuous second-half of Badgers attacking, with Parker and Knowles controlling the midfield. Robins added a third before Sourris' cross was sweetly met by Mackrell - to stun the visitors with an equaliser.

If a winner was to be scored, only Brockham looked likely to supply it. But the rock-solid second half defensive effort - van Acoleyen, Bangs and Thomas all prominent - finally slipped just enough for Chiddingfold to grab all the points against the run of play.

A proud and often exhilarating performance against a very good team.

Brockham Badgers U12a 3 - 0 Capel Youth

Report by Sandra Mackrell

Back to winning ways for the Badgers U12As. A strong start from Brockham led to a number of chances, with through balls from Coffey to Murrell whose shots unfortunately slid across the face of goal. Meanwhile, a headed attempt from Smith was gathered safely by the Capel keeper. However, within five minutes of kick off, the Badgers were ahead with a rebound from the keeper slotted away by Smith.

The crosses were coming thick and fast and the second goal came from a superb run down the flank by Murrell. He crossed and, although Wright was there to nudge home if needed, the ball had crossed the line before he got his boot to it. Wright was also involved in the next goal, with a telling pass to set-up Murrell for his second - and Brockham's third.

Capel retaliated with some accurate passing and managed to slip past the strong Badgers defence, but the attempt flew safely over the cross bar. Morrison was then called upon to make a save for the Badgers as Capel began to push forward. The half-time talk centred on the need to continue quick passing, crossing and using the early ball to the team’s advantage.

The second half saw Capel come out fighting and they had the majority of play for the first fifteen minutes, with a number of attempts on goal being saved by the now-busy Morrison. The Badgers managed one more chance themselves as the unlucky Capel keeper gave away a free kick outside the area - but his strength in the save from Murrell's shot kept the final score at 3-0 to the Badgers.

Lad-of-the-Match: Jack Murrell

Roffey Robins Rockets 3 - 2 Brockham Badgers U12b

Brockham Badgers U11a 2 - 3 Broadbridge Heath

After perhaps their best performance of the season in last week's cup clash against higher league opposition, the U11As rather underperformed at home to second place Broadbridge Heath in the Horsham and District league.

The Badgers were behind as early as the fifth minute, with the Broadbridge Heath attack pouncing on a rare mistake by Henry Warne in the Badgers goal. But a good move by full back Alex Postles and Mitchell Ward saw Ward skillfully slot the ball past the keeper for the equaliser.

Sloppy defending then saw Heath played onside as Brockham came out from defence far too slowly, resulting in the away side once more taking the lead - but, just before half time, Badgers again drew level for a second time when Ward crossed in for Aaron Clark to score from close range. Stephen Kehl then sent a volley and a lob just wide as Brockham enjoyed their best spell of the game with lad-of-the-match Dylan Peters (playing in an unaccustomed centre back position) leading by example.

The second half was less fruitful for the home side. More sleepy defending from a corner gave Broadbridge Heath a simple opportunity to retake the lead and in truth, apart from a good Ward run and shot late on, Brockham did not really threaten the away goal.

The 3-2 defeat left the U11As to reflect on what might have been had they matched the visitors overall workrate during the game - although it was possibly a case of "after the Lord Mayor's show" following the heroic performance of the previous weekend.

Balcombe Raiders 4 - 5 Brockham Badgers U11 (White)

Balcombe surprised Brockham from the kick off and, after only two minutes, took the lead following some confusion in the Badgers' defence.

But it wasn’t long before Brockham got into gear and started to forge forward into their opponents half. With some superb through-balls from midfielders Josh Caldwell, Dougie Baldwin and George Duckworth, they were unlucky not to score. Indeed, it wasn’t until five minutes before half time that the equaliser came. The ball came to Nathan Acheson who side-stepped the advancing keeper and shot home. Three minutes later Brockham took the lead with some fine skills from Ben Stokoe.

Balcombe were not letting Brockham have it all their own way though and, after the break, pressurised the Badgers' goal. They were rewarded with two quick scrambled goals to give regain the lead at 3-2.

Brockham defenders Callum Tilling, Bill Rowlands, Joe Stradling and Jamie Davidson, closed ranks and the team managed to regain the momentum, pushing forward with confidence. With only ten minutes to go, Acheson brought Brockham level once again, firing the ball over the keeper. Two minutes later, Otto Young knocked the ball in from close range to put Brockham back in the lead by 4-3. Balcombe came back yet again, forcing another superb save from keeper Jack Whetnall but, shortly after, the ball came back into the Brockham area and Balcombe managed to grab yet another equaliser.

With only one minute to go, the Badgers pushed forward once more down the right wing. Harry Roberts fired a long cross over to Brockham’s lad-of-the-match Daniel Hoad, who fired home to give Brockham their first win of the season.

Wandgas 0 - 2 Brockham Badgers U10a

Report by Simon Winter

Although rooted firmly to the bottom of the table Sunderland-style, with only 4 points from 13 games, Wandgas are by no means a poor side - more a reflection of the high quality on show throughout the division.Nevertheless, the U10As travelled very much in the hope of picking up three points and maintaining some contact with the top of the table.

The first half showed this would be no formality. The home side offered quite a strong physical challenge and, on easily the narrowest pitch Badgers have played on this season, they were unable to develop their normal wide game. Matthew Higgins decided at one point to take the direct route and set off on a brilliant run from inside his own box, which ended with a shot narrowly tipped around the post by the Wandgas keeper. Brockham were also handicapped by missing their two specialist central midfielders. The half ended in stalemate at 0-0.

The second period began more promisingly. In the space of ten minutes Brockham had established a two-goal lead. First, George Coffey set up Bertie Edwards-Hedges for his tenth goal of the season (the first U10 Badger into double figures). Coffey then followed this by converting Will Bletso’s cross minutes later. This gave Brockham a cushion but they were never fully convincing and were to thank keeper Michael Ellis for making some crucial saves. He enjoyed his best match for some time, handling the ball cleanly and keeping alert so that the Badgers were able to hold on for an important win.

Lad-of-the-Match: Michael Ellis – good handling and several fine saves.

Alexandra United 1 - 3 Brockham Badgers U10b

Whyteleafe 5 - 0 Brockham Badgers U10c

Report by Duncan Hanwell

This was the most disappointing display of the season, with Badgers going down 5-0 in a game against close rivals Whyteleafe.

In a keenly contested first half there was only a one goal difference, and Badgers could so easily have been level with Tim Hines and Axel Davies going close. However, the second half was a different story with Whyteleafe showing all the desire to win and a further four goals followed. Again, Brockham had their chances with three or four break-aways which, on another day, could have ended in better returns.

On the positive side, there were fine performances at the back from Daniel Hall, Alex Dean, and goalkeeper Simon Watson, who again showed a lot of bravery in his penalty area.

There are four games left this season and the lads will be switching to the 11-a-side game for next season - fighting qualities will need to be demonstrated both on the pitch and in training to win their places.

Lad of the Match: Alex Dean - for strength and determination to win the ball.

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Six of the best!

Six goals make it six league wins in a row for the U15s.

(Click on each picture for a full-screen image)

Click Here to go to this week reports and pictures for the U9s and U8s

AFC Walcountians 0 - 3 Brockham Badgers U11 Girls

Report by Gordon Walker

Following their previous encounter, Walcountians had clearly decided to concentrate on defence in this match. Although Brockham shaded the possession in the first half, they were unable to break the deadlock.

As the game went into the final quarter, Tilly Leney, still full of energy, was able to elude the defence and finish a solo run. Shortly after, a goal kick was intercepted and, in a one-on-one with the keeper, Tilly was just able to reach the ball first and make the score two-nil.

Biggest cheer of the day was for Keaton Scanlon when she scored the third goal - another close range effort. Last season’s “Player’s Player of the Year”, Keaton, will be missed by the entire team when she emigrates to Florida next week and it was fitting that she should score in her last game for the club.

Best wishes to Keaton who was recently presented with a football signed by the entire squad. If we can find a rich sponsor, we’ll come and visit on tour.

Team: Ellie Rowlands, Emilly Walker, Hannah Burgess, Rachael Woodman, Alice Beadle, Tilly Leney, Keaton Scanlon, Mirriam Mizzi, Claire Weatherston, Ella Motthee, Kate Walker.