On a narrow pitch both sides fought a congested game right from the kick off. It was Brockham that launched the first notable attack, when in the fifth minute a Teague shot rebounded out for Turner to knock back, but wide of the post. A couple of minutes later Thomas also shot wide.
The pace was energetic and both teams were eager to press for openings but it was going to take a bit of invention to lift the game. This duly came on 10 minutes when Teague, cool-as-you-like, lifted his shot over the Robins’ keeper and into the roof of the net to make it 0-1 to the Badgers.
Brockham have recently developed a killer instinct when they sense an opportunity and barely 3 minutes had passed since the opener, when Thomas whipped over an accurate cross that ruffled an already numbed Roffey defence. The ball was met cleanly by Turner, who superbly tapped in number two.
There was no let up from either side and at times the ball bounced amongst them like a pinball machine. When breakthroughs came they were fast and furious, but the attacks brought no more first half goals.
Brockham launched themselves into attack immediately after the restart and caught the home team unawares. On two minutes Dogansoy placed a beautiful pass for the galloping Teague to latch onto and who’s shot went past the goalie, uncontested and into the net for Brockham’s third.
Six minutes later, after some spirited football, Roffey pulled one back, when a well-timed cross was met by a Robins striker, with a stinging header.
There was a cup-tie atmosphere about this game; it had goals, pace, battles, entertainment and nervous moments. Both sides were putting in commendable performances and Purcell and Donnegan were in the thick of a lot of the action. The final seconds brought a scary moment for the hosts as a true goal-mouth scramble released the ball to a waiting Turner, but his shot was just off target and the game finished 3-1 to the Badgers.
Man of the Match: Jamie Donegan
Squad: Joe Baker, Jamie Donegan, Kemal Dogansoy, Daniel Killick, Dominic Lane, Sam Potts, Jake Purcell, Joe Teague, Will Thomas, Ollie Turner, Jacob Vaughan, George Warne, Rufus Watson.
Report by Tony Watson
