Billingshurst Youth 1 - 2 Badgers U12B (U12 Roffey Robins Frank Giess Memorial Cup)

This was the cup debut for Badgers’ new kit, sponsored by Bright Spark Toys, and the lads looked as smart as toy soldiers and no longer a kaleidoscope of non-matching kit.  Billingshurst was the venue, but the home team was outnumbered both on and off the pitch: they could only find ten players, and the Badgers’ parents were more numerous and more vocal than the Youths’.  You didn’t need a weather station to forecast an interesting match, and as is traditional Badgers made the better start with the bulk of possession and territory.  After five minutes Billingshurst started to find their feet, and coach Steve Smith urged his defence to drop back to counter the growing threat.  Matt Allan, returning to goal-keeping duties, was as solid as ever, dealing with shots and back-passes confidently, and making ground with powerful kicks from hands or the pitch.

Despite thrilling play, half time came with no score.  Badgers were playing with the slope in the second half, but it was the home team that forced a corner and scored.  From 1-0 down the Badgers substitutes up front started to rally: the pocket volcano James Macintyre-Gordon linking well with Harry Wickens and Freddie Bedford, and amazingly two penalties were awarded to the Badgers, though with neither one converted.  Finally Bedford broke through the offside trap and finished superbly to equalise.  Both teams were now pushing for the winner, but at the end of normal time came with one goal each.


Ten minutes each way of extra time followed.  With the crowd getting increasingly anxious, we entered the second period of extra time still at stalemate.  With 7 minutes to go Bedford found himself on the right of the box, and his cunning lob evaded the keeper to give Badgers the lead.  Pulses were racing, and tempers threatened to spill over, but Brockham hung on to go through to the next round. 

Man of the Match: Alex Finn.


Report by Tom Race

Copthorne Youth 1 - 1 Badgers U9B (Horsham and District League)

The U9Bs opened their season with an away match at Copthorne Youth. Being new to the league, it remains to be seen how well the team will compete at this level; against this opposition at least, Badgers showed distinct signs that they would at least hold their own.

From the kick-off Brockham had most of the possession. Their rapidly developing sense of positional play kept Copthorne stretched and obliged them to work hard to gain a foothold in the match. Defensively, the Badgers were very sound, with William Glenn and Ben Mackenzie comfortably protecting their goal. 


After 10 minutes, Arun Watkins ended a penetrative run down the right with a neat pass to Ben Austin further down the wing. As the cross came in, Callum Holder’s decoy run took the Copthorne left back out of the game leaving Lily Turner unopposed to slot the ball home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Copthorne kept battling, and came more into the game in the second half. Still the Badgers coped well, with fine saves from ‘keeper Huw Morgan, and stout defensive work from Jethro Burton and Tom Ambrose.

Despite some neat passing moves, the second goal for Brockham did not come and Copthorne earned the reward for their persistence with an equalising goal following a penalty area melee in the final minute.

A little disappointed in the end result, the Badgers can nonetheless be proud of their start to the season, which augurs well for the coming games. Credit also to both teams for a very sporting and well-fought contest.

Report by Frank Holder

Badgers U12A 4 - 1 Heron Olympic (Horsham and District League B)

The visiting side kicked off first but it was Brockham who applied the early pressure. Against the run of play Heron scored in the 5th minute when a long, curling, high shot was hit hopefully towards the goal. The Badgers' keeper misjudged the dip on the ball and it trickled into the net. 

Brockham responded positively and fought valiantly to regain control, and the team was beginning to link up more effectively. The action swung back and forth by two evenly matched teams but clear cut opportunities were few. We had Killick and Lane providing commanding figures at the back and Baker was putting in a stirling performance at the wing rearguard.

The game was certainly energetic and it looked odds on that more goals would follow. On 19 minutes Turner tried a cheeky long range effort but the shot was off target.

It was efforts all around as the 'never say die' Purcell and his team mates strove for parity. Teague, Watson, Potts and Dogansoy employed themselves tirelessly in search of the host's first goal.

Tactical re-arrangements by Brockham at the start of the second-half brought immediate success. Warne trapped the ball in midfield then planted it in front of Turner to chase. The striker took the ball and rounded the keeper skillfully, to net his sides equaliser.

The away team didn't know what had hit them when seconds after the restart Warne again claimed a midfield ball and released debutante Thomas to knock and dribble his way past Heron's defenders and goalie. 2-1.

Heron were now having trouble dealing with the reshaped Badgers team, as Vaughan harried, and they went further behind barely four minutes later. Thomas again showed his mettle with a determined run down the right wing, that resulted in him sliding in his second to make it 3-1.

The encounter took on a more edgy feel as the pulse quickened. We saw harder tackles and more offside traps being employed. Despite having a Heron cross kiss their bar with three minutes remaining Brockham held firm at the back and continued to marshall the centre of the park. Their day was complete, when in the final two minutes, Tiley pounced on a loose ball in the Heron area to pot another goal for a full-time score of 4-1

Man of the Match: Jake Purcell

Squad:  Joe Baker, Kemal Dogansoy, Daniel Killick, Dominic Lane, Sam Potts, Jake Purcell, Joe Teague, Wilbur Tiley, Will Thomas, Ollie Turner, Jacob Vaughan, George Warne, Rufus Watson.

Report by Tony Watson

Badgers U14A 1 - 5 AFC Wimbledon (Surrey Youth League Premier Elite)

They say there are no easy matches in any top division and they don’t come much tougher than this.  Brockham Badgers U14As started their first season in the Surrey Youth League Premier Elite with an opening fixture against current National Cup Winners and League Champions AFC Wimbledon.  It would be fair to say it was a classic “welcome” with AFC running out 5-1 winners but coach Jason Rabbetts having lots to be pleased with in Brockham’s spirited performance.

Things got off to a bad start with the Badgers conceding two early goals.  The first, an instinctive shot on the turn from the Wimbledon No.10, the second more debatable following a goal mouth charge from a corner that had a suspicion of hand ball.

AFC however, to their credit, were worth it – throughout the game they played some excellent football in quick tempo pass and move passages of pressure.  Their No.8 Jake Gill stood out, controlling the game from midfield, and well supported by the Gallagher cousins, all three of which are Dorking school boys who perhaps don’t get the local recognition their precocious talent deserves due to their South London team places.

Brockham rallied well though.  They kept their heads up and maintained the Wimbledon advantage at 2-0 for more than 50 minutes.  Sam Lloyd and Lewis Wood hounded the Wimbledon midfield whilst Justin Tarrant patrolled the backline and James Rabbetts has an outstanding game in goal.

With only 15 minutes remaining however their steadfast efforts took toll on their concentration but not without reward.  Following a neat move through the middle of the park, and a decisive finish, AFC made it 3-0.  The Badgers pushed on though and some good attacking football saw Wimbledon concede a corner.  Jordan Martin whipped in a peach of a cross and Captain Cremmen glanced a leaping header into the AFC net.

Shortly afterwards it could have been 3-2.  Joe Silver’s pace and strength gave him the advantage against the Wimbledon right back, and he delivered a pin perfect cross only for Martin’s first time strike go wide.  Eventually fitness told and Wimbledon put two more goals inside the Badgers net within the last ten minutes. 

The Brockham boys can take a lot from this.  They competed well against one of the best non-academy sides in England.  Hopefully a few points will come their way in what will be a very interesting season for a village side punching its weight at the highest level.

Lad of the Match:  James Rabbetts

Report by Jason Rabbetts
Pictures by Clive Silver

Badgers U9A 2 - 7 Wolves FC (Epsom and Ewell League Premier)

A damp Saturday morning greeted Brockham Badgers U9A team and Wolves FC at The Big Field for their first match of the season.

Early pressure by a well organised Wolves team leads to a great cross after 5 minutes that the Wolves strikers fail to get to. This is followed by a number of Wolves corners and  shots that go wide of The Badgers Goal. Joe Rabbetts manages to break for Brockham and get the ball onto his favoured left foot, only to shoot just wide of the post. Wolves then counter attack and break the deadlock, one nil. A melee in The Brockham goal results in a hand ball and Wolves get a penalty kick that is ruthlessly dispatched, two nil. Flowing pay and effective passing add a brace of goals for Wolves to take the score to four nil. Sam Church for Brockham manages to  get a corner across to Joe Rabbetts who shoots just wide. Wolves punish Brockham again taking the score to five nil. Brockham get back at Wolves with a corner taken by Joe Rabbetts and this time George Wryde makes no mistake to get one back for Brockham just before half time.

A double substitution at half time by Brockham sees Owen Knowles and Ed Russ replace Jos Hunt and Archie Routleff. Five minutes into the second half and the Wolves strike again. 6 - 1.

Brockham are back in the game in this half with significant possession and some excellent defending at right back by Knowles but Wolves break and score against the run of play. Continued Brockham pressure pays off with an excellent pass from Russ that splits The Wolves defence and this time Rabbetts takes his chance slipping the ball past the Wolves keeper. Will Timmons almost scores for Brockham from the corner, this is much better from Brockham. Unfortunately it is too little too late for Brockham and the when the final whistle blows it’s 7-2 to The Wolves.

Man of the Match: George Wryde.

Report by Rick Russ

Leatherhead Youth 1 - 3 Badgers U15A (Surrey Youth League Premier Elite)

Brockham Badgers U15A began their new league campaign with a pleasing 3-1 win away to Leatherhead Youth. The home side started the stronger and dominated proceedings for a while, culminating in the opening goal on 15 minutes. As is often the case, this stung the Badgers into life and within 2 minutes they were level. Chris Brooks took an excellent corner deep into the Leatherhead box and Josh Brown was first to the ball, lashing high into the net for 1-1. Brockham then ended the first half on a high with the goal of the game. Will Mahoney burst strongly down the right wing and put in a superb high cross which George Coffey met with a perfectly-timed header to send his side in 2-1 up at the break.

Badgers confirmed their improvement for large spells of the second half, and in one 10-minute period of intense pressure they had at least three clear chances to put the game out of reach, but while the score remained the same Leatherhead showed in patches that they were capable of drawing level, with Matt Higgins and Will Bletso having to work tirelessly in central defence. Brockham did finally secure the points three minutes from time when Alex Nicholson met a corner on the half volley and Harry Ramsey diverted his effort into the top corner.

Squad: Dennis Rapson, Will Mahoney, Liam Ratcliffe, Ross Bangs, Matt Higgins, Will Bletso, Oli Winter, Mike Richardson, Frankie Routleff, Josh Brown, Jack Wyllie, Harvey Mewis, Alex Nicholson, George Coffey, Harry Ramsey, Chris Brooks.

Report by Simon Winter

Staines Albion 1 - 6 Badgers U11 Sunday (Surrey Youth League Premier)

Brockham travelled to Staines for their opening Surrey Youth League Premier Division fixture of the season.  This was to be their first real test as a team of eleven, having had a couple of pre-season friendly’s against Premier Elite Team AFC Kings.  The late summer sun was bright and their opponents craftily elected to give them the dazzle for the first half.  The grass could have done with a mow – it was potentially going to be a bumpy ride on this slightly undersized pitch.

The Badgers got off to a nervy start with the ball bouncing from one end to the other before they settled and brought the ball back down onto the playing surface.  A couple of attacks down the left hand side saw Joseph Issberner push wide to the goal line.  He managed, at a stretch, to provide a lofted left footed cross which was neatly headed over the stranded goalkeeper by Nathaniel King to give Brockham a 1 – 0 lead.  The goal was clearly a confidence boost as the Badgers proceeded to pile on the pressure down the left hand side.  Staines then pressed into the Brockham goalmouth.  Aidan Torpey defended and fed a great ball to King who proceeded to lob one over the Staines defence for Max Austin to chase down.  He raced towards the keeper with two defenders but got the better of all three as he extended his leg and guided the ball into the net, 2 – 0 Brockham.  Brockham continued to drive forwards.  During another attack the ball found itself bobbling around in the Staines box. Austin didn’t need an invitation to stab the ball home 3 – 0. 

It was a Brockham throw down the left hand side that again led to a great cross by Issberner, this time gratefully received by Thomas Hemming (man of the match) and driven home to give the Badgers a 4 – 0 lead.  Issberner again drove down the left hand side, this time taking the ball in himself and passing it past the goalkeeper into the back of the net for a 5 – 0 lead at half time.

Staines upped the tempo in the second spell spending the first 15 minutes pushing deep into the Badgers half.  Tom Phillips and William Conroy were solid in defence keeping the Staines efforts on goal to a minimum.  It was a Staines free kick that saw them get on the scoreboard.  A well weighted kick into the box from the right hand side was well defended by a Brockham head.  However as the ball came to ground Brockham dithered and Staines took the opportunity to score their first goal of the campaign.

In the final quarter it was Brockham’s turn to reapply the pressure.  Jack Wisbey surged up the left hand side driving a shot towards goal.  The keeper did well to parry it but Justin Hurst was quick to pounce on the loose ball to give the Badgers their final goal for their first win of the season 6 – 1.          

Squad: Callum Agent, Max Austin, William Conroy, Joseph Issberner, Harry Fairley, Callum Glenn, Thomas Hemming, Nathanial King, Tom Phillips, Jack Wisbey, Max Hill, Justin Hurst, Alex Wells, Aidan Torpey, Alex Watts

Report by Chris Hurst