Badgers U15A went to Sheen Lions hoping for their first points of 2011 and in the process, to avenge a 3-1 defeat to the same side in the home fixture.
For large parts of the first half, this looked likely as the Badgers strung some good passing moves together and gained a slight upper hand in the midfield, enabling George Coffey in particular to engineer some good shooting opportunities for himself and teammates, but the end product was not quite enough.
Sheen possess some quick, skilfull players especially in attack, and they snatched the lead against the run of play just before the break, a smart finish from a tight angle giving stand-in keeper Chris Brooks no chance. This was hard on Brockham's usual centre forward, who earlier had shown his talent in the green jersey with an agile tip over the bar and some commanding sorties off his line.
The second half continued in a similar vein, with Josh Brown back to his combative best down the left flank, Mike Richardson and Harvey Mewis battling well in midfield and Coffey increasingly influential through the middle, holding the ball up well but never afraid to take on the Sheen defence with the ball at his feet. Just when it seemed Brockham were getting back on terms, the home side doubled their lead when allowed too much space in the box, and before long the game was out of reach with a third goal, once again the result of some slack defending.
Frustratingly, Harvey Mewis then found the net with a beautifully placed shot into the top corner to show what Badgers are capable of when they take their chances, but there was no time to reduce the arrears any further and the game ended 3-1 to the Lions.
Report by Bryan Bletso
