Badgers stutter to a halt in the cup.
First Half
This was a cup match with plenty of competition from two accomplished
and high scoring teams. The first ten minutes consisted of a battle
for authority with very little room in the tight formations of play.
Brockham looked to be getting the better of things and produced the
first moment of danger when Tiley chased a ball up front, but his
attempt was saved.
The play began to open up and on 10 minutes Tiley again gave chase to
another through ball, but to no avail. The action immediately
switched to the other end where a St Hill corner was cleared by
Warne. Two minutes later the visitors won a free kick on the edge of
the area. One of their strikers calmly placed the ball, then
thundered in a hard and accurate shot that stunned the Badgers
defence and flew into the net. 0-1.
The players hardly had time to catch their breath when on 5 minutes
Brockham also won an edge-of-area free kick. Teague took his time,
whilst the wall positioned itself. The striker belted in a peach of a
shot that looped the St Hills defence and keeper to hit the net and
draw the teams level. 1-1.
The Blues picked themselves up and came back at Brockham, putting the
pressure on but their offensive was being held in place by a resolute
Badgers defence. They did go close when a shot whipped in from the
wing went narrowly wide, and after a series of corners Brockham
keeper Wheeler pulled off an important save with 8 minutes left to
play for.
Every advantage was having to be fought for but there was also some
lovely touch and run football being played. The energetic pace
continued and with only 2 minutes of the half remaining Brockham's
Warne stole the ball from a midfield opponent and surged forward. His
determined run took him past defenders and his shot was only going to
have one outcome, as he banged it into the net. 2-1.
Second Half
Both teams have formidable attacks and the second half kicked off in
the same attacking mode as the first. There were 4 corners in the
first 4 minutes. In the 2nd minute a Teague-Turner duet cleaved the
Blues defence and created a chance for the hosts, but Tiley's well
hit shot was parried to safety by the away side's keeper.
Purcell, Lane and Killick were keeping a strong strike-force in check
and managed to propel the Badgers forward out of danger but St Hillls
were still pushing hard.
On 8 minutes Wheeler produced another fine save to keep his side in
it and straight away Brockham replied in kind, as Tiley had another
shot thwarted by the keeper. Six minutes after that Teague's
confident shot was also saved well. This was a purple patch for goal
keepers.
Despite the persistence of St Hills the game seemed to be going well
for Brockham, until they were stunned by a double whammy midway
through the half. In the 21st minute The Blues won a corner and the
cross was cleared only as far as a visitor's forward. He delivered a
shot that curved over everyone and into the goal. 2-2.
There was more pain to follow, when seconds later St Hills launched
themselves down the wing, catching Brockham out. Another shot was
crossed over the Badger's back line and again fell behind the keeper,
and into the net. 2-3.
Brockham fought on and produced some opportunities but it was
difficult against a well-drilled side like St Hills. 5 minutes after
the last goal, Thomas ran onto a forward ball but his shot was saved.
With only 3 minutes left we saw a Brockham push result in a goal-line
clearance by St Hills and Teague made a last ditch attempt in the
final minute but Brockham eventually succumbed to their first defeat
of the season.
Full time 2-3.
Man of the match: George Warne
Squad: Joe Baker, Kemal Dogansoy, Jamie Donegan, Daniel Killick,
Dominic Lane, Jake Purcell, Joe Teague, Wilbur Tiley, Will Thomas,
Ollie Turner, Jacob Vaughan, George Warne, Rufus Watson, Oakley Wheeler.
Report by Tony Watson
