Brockham Badgers U10 Barbarians earned a hard fought victory over Oxshott Royals in this Epsom & Ewell Division Three fixture on the Big Field. Barbarians hoped to get back to winning ways after an indifferent performance last week where they were defeated for only the second time in the league this season.
The opening period of the game saw early chances for both teams, a slick passing move from the Barbarians saw Callum Holder test the Oxshott goalkeeper with a shot that he could only spill to Arun Watkins but the goalkeeper redeemed himself with a fine save from Watkins. Moments later an exquisite pass from Ben MacKenzie put Holder through on goal but his attempted lob hit the Oxshott crossbar and bounced to safety.
Barbarians opened the scoring on seven minutes, Lily Turner orchestrating a one, two with Holder before putting MacKenzie through to finish a fine move. Having fallen behind Oxshott turned up the tempo, Barbarian defenders William Glenn, Bailey Osborne and Ben Austin were on hand to make several vital interceptions, however Oxshott’s pressure paid dividends on thirteen minutes with an equalising goal as Barbarians failed to clear a corner.
Barbarians responded with goals either side of half time to put them in a commanding position. Holder gained assists for both goals, firstly squaring the ball across the Oxshott penalty area to provide Watkins with a simple tap in, then providing a pass behind the Oxshott defence for MacKenzie to finish for his second goal of the game.
A late Oxshott goal made for an interesting finale but Barbarians held on for a deserved 3-2 victory.
Brockham: Joshua Snow, Ben Austin, William Glenn, Bailey Osborne, Ben MacKenzie, Arun Watkins, Lily Turner, Callum Holder