It was a bright sunny Saturday morning at Old Coulsdon Colts and Brockham were hoping for an equally bright start. The match was played on a sloping pitch and following the toss Coulsdon elected to give Brockham the downhill advantage in the first half.
Brockham got off to a promising start with Ed Russ getting the ball through to Joe Rabbetts who shot into the side netting. Will Timmons, of Brockham, then had a shot on goal saved. Brockham continued to apply pressure winning corners but they still couldn’t find the back of the net. A Coulsdon defender then handled the ball in the Coulsdon penalty area and Joe Rabbetts stepped up to take it, only for it to be saved by the keeper. Coulsdon got a break and George Wryde was forced to make a good save for Brockham to stop them going one down. Ed Russ had a shot from distance tipped over the bar by the Coulsdon keeper.
Brockham continued to apply pressure and eventually got their reward when Will Timmons fired the ball into the back of the net. Then a defensive error by Brockham gave Couldson a break and they made no mistake, 1-1 on the stroke of half time.
After the break Coulsdon had the downhill advantage and following their late first half equaliser they were back in the game. Brockham got a break, Joe Rabbetts took the ball in the Coulsdon penalty area, controlled it, turned onto his preferred left foot and drilled it into the Coulsdon goal, 1-2.
Coulsdon struck back immediately with a great run down the right, out pacing the Brockham defence and finishing perfectly, 2-2. Resolute defending by Owen Knowles and Matthew Chapman kept Brockham in the game but Coulsdon knew how to use the sloping pitch to their advantage and played a long ball over the top of the Brockham defence to take the score to 3-2. George Wryde managed to break for Brockham but was brought down in the penalty area by a strong, fair, Coulsdon tackle.
Further Coulsdon pressure down the right created a great cross that was met by an unmarked Coulsdon striker who finished well, 4-2.
Man of the Match: Owen Knowles
Report by Rick Russ
