As Mick McCarthy philosophically once said after a run of frustrating results “you lose some, you draw some”, and so it is proving to be for Brockham Badgers U14A when they again came away with only a point from a game they thoroughly deserved to win.
Brockham started superbly. Within one minute they were ahead when a corner from Jordan Martin was met with power and timing by Justin Tarrant to head home. They were seemingly in cruise control two minutes later when they grabbed their second. A cross from the left found Joe Silver running at goal. His first touch was an instinctive strike from just inside the 18 yard area and it volleyed off the top of his foot to double the lead.
For the remainder of the first half Brockham dominated. They played a high tempo pressing game that become frustrating for the visitors who were limited to only a single shot on goal which James Rabbetts coped with superbly, coming a long way off his line to close the angle and diffuse. There were even one or two opportunities for Brockham to take their third.
Ashford started the second half brighter and for ten minutes edged the possession advantage. There were signs of them coming back into the gain but Tarrant and Tom Hampshire were demonstrating a master class in defensive organisation and Alex Flint was linking up play well from an advanced position creating all sorts of problems for the Ashford defence who were drawn to him in the centre and being stretched when he released balls into Martin and Simon Vakeva-Baird on the flanks. It could easily have been a stale mate for the remainder of the game.
Three game changing calls, however, went against the black and whites. A jinking run down the Ashford left forced Tarrant to make a decision. His ball winning tackle was adjudged to have come through the player first and with his position just inside the area the referee awarded a penalty which was very well despatched by the Ashford captain.
Brockham were still brimming with confidence and shortly afterwards had the Ashford back line in a panic. A cross from Vakeva-Baird, who had been outstanding all game, was hit goalwards by Flint and a deflection off the keeper saw the ball rebound off the post. In the melee it was difficult to see who had the final strike that bellowed the net but the Brockham boys reeled away in celebration thinking they’d settled it only for the linesman to rule a no-goal for off-side. With an Ashford player on the line the Brockham forward must have been judged to have been between keeper and last defence when the ball first came in.
Minutes later, with renewed hunger and a feeling of lady luck on their side, Ashford pushed forward again. A lovely piece of trickery from Sam Kandalaft for Ashford turned his marker and fed the ball inside, his supporting player’s strike was disappointing and fell behind the line for Brockham to clear, but the clearance was poorly judged and fell to the feet of a poaching Ashford forward who hit it first time past Rabbetts to level the game.
The remaining ten minutes saw both sides go for broke and it was a very even game from then on with both managers relieved to hear the final whistle. After last week’s great comeback against Ashford it was Brockham’s turn to be on the receiving end of a fight back. The Badger boys can take great pride and belief from another excellent performance – something that will stand them in good stead for the rest of the season.
Lad of the Match: Simon Vakeva-Baird
Report by Jason Rabbetts
