Cranleigh 1 - 5 Badgers U16A 5 (Horsham and District B League); Badgers U16B 3 - 1Horsham Tigers (Horsham and District D League)

Brockham U16A secured a good away win at Cranleigh maintaining for now their 2^nd place in the division, albeit having played more games than the clubs around them in the table.

It was a perfect start for Brockham, Aaron Clark latching on to a through ball to slot the ball home in the 2^nd minute.  But Cranleigh came back into the game, and slack marking from a corner gave the home side what was a deserved equaliser 20 minutes into the game.  Brockham though stepped up the tempo, and Clark again showed quick reactions to latch on to a loose ball in the box to make it 2-1 before good work from Will Bletso down the Cranliegh left saw him deliver a ball into the box which was coolly side footed home by Henry Hill.

Brockham looked more assured at the back in the second period, with lad of the match Henry Smith workmanlike at left back and Connor Mitchell commanding in goal, and Brockham were able to withstand the pressure Cranleigh tried to exert in the second half.   Brockham were also breaking quickly, Stephen Kehl forging a good attacking partnership with Clark while Mike Carty and Joe Parker were using the ball to good effect in midfield.   And when Clark grabbed his hattrick with 15 minutes to go, Brockham really were safe, the game definitely sealed in the final minutes with the best goal of the game seeing Charlie Holmes deliver a delightful ball into the box for Clark to meet on the half volley and make it 5-1

Squad: Connor Mitchell, Joe Parker, Henry Smith, Tom Bletso (c), Jack Hunt, Charlie Holmes, Mike Carty, Will Bletso, Ollie Legg, Henry Hill, Stephen Kehl, Aaron Clark

Meanwhile the U16Bs pulled off their best result of the season with a 3-1 home victory over 2^nd placed Horsham Tigers to move into 3^rd spot in their league.  Lad of the match and hat-trick hero was Dan Hoad whose three goals gave the side a great win.

Report by Bryan Bletso

Redhill 2 - 2 Dorking U18s (Southern Youth League Southern Section)

Dorking FC U18s (the youth team for Badgers' affiliated senior club) moved up to 4th in the Southern Youth League Southern section with a draw on Thursday night at Redhill's Kiln Brow ground.  With games in hand on most of the team's above Dorking in the league, manager Simon Coffey is hopeful his side can push into the top 3 spots in the league in coming weeks as the side have a lot of games to play before the end of the season due to previous postponements.

On a difficult surface, Dorking started slowly and defended poorly enabling Redhill to take a 2 goal lead into the interval.  However a tactical change saw Thomas Coffey moved from centre back to the heart of midfield, and with the team seeing more of the ball, and Harry Lynn playing superbly at centre back, Dorking started to dominate.
 

Dorking pulled it back to 2-1 when Josh Clarke scored from a corner.  Dorking then applied a fair bit of pressure, and got their reward when substitute Mitchell Ward used his pace to good effect to force a penalty with 5 minutes to go.  Captain Chris Thurgood took responsibility for the spot kick to score and equalise for the team, both sides having chances to win the match in the final stages, but a draw probably being the right result.

Dorking have an immediate chance to go one better against Redhill U18s when Redhill visit Meadowbank on Monday for the home league game, kick off 7.45pm.

Squad: Henry Warne, Ryan Butler, ,Ashley Smith, Harry Lynn, Tom Coffey, James Baker, Stephen Batchelor, Daryl Jeeves, Josh Clarke, Chris Thurgood, Ryan Stewart 
Subs :Jack Murrell, Nathan Crosbie, Mitchel Ward, Conner Mitchell


Report by Bryan Bletso

Badgers U14A 3 - 2 Leatherhead Youth (Surrey Youth League Premier Elite)

All the effort paid off this weekend when Brockham at last broke their duck in the Surrey Youth League with a win against local rivals Leatherhead.  The Badgers deserved the victory on balance but certainly put their coaching team and parents through the emotional mangle to achieve it.

Brockham more than matched Leatherhead through the early stages of the game.  Sam Lloyd and Justin Tarrant were breaking up play in midfield, winning the loose balls and feeding the creative Lewis Wood, and playing balls into wide areas to good effect.  It was from the right channel that Joe Silver opened his account with a stunning solo effort.  At speed he drove to the bye-line riding three challenges en route.  Just when everyone thought he’d gone too far he banged a cannon of a shot from a tight angle into the top corner.

Leatherhead’s frustration in midfield was evident but despite having little time on the ball to play there were signs of good link up play from their two front men that on two occasions tested James Rabbetts in the black and white’s goal.  Rabbetts was on form today though, coming off his line well, communicating to good effect, and gathering balls to quell danger when needed.

Brockham expected a response from Leatherhead in the second half and so it came.  A sustained period of pressure for fifteen minutes tested the Badgers but the back line and keeper met the challenge. 

Brockham wrestled back the advantage and went close with two fine efforts from Martin.  The first a fierce dipping shot that the Leatherhead keeper saved superbly at full stretch, the second a free kick that almost crept inside the far post unchallenged.  Then Brockham grabbed their second.  A ball from the left ran across the area where Martin picked it up wide on the right, he jinked past a challenge and passed the ball across goal for Silver to tap in for his brace.

The game ebbed and flowed.  Both teams had goals disallowed for offside and some hairy moments in the Brockham area saw the ball bobble, bounce, and ping around on three occasions – but for the assured hands of Rabbetts, the Tanners could have been level.

Leatherhead got their rewards however soon after.  Brockham switched off momentarily, allowing Leatherhead to press and run at goal.   A tidy one-two between their forwards saw them nick a goal back.  Everyone then thought the game had been levelled following a ball in from the Leatherhead left but the ball was adjudged to have breached the bye-line before the cross came in.

The Badgers then saw a second off-side decision cancel out a goal of their own when Silver, free on the left and running at pace, passed for Martin to stroke the ball past the keeper.  This was followed by a barnstorming run at goal by Lloyd.  With a simple touch left or right of the keeper he could have put Brockham out of sight but instead elected for power and blasted the ball over.  Martin had an identical opportunity two minutes later but shot directly at the Tanners keeper.  Almost immediately the Tanners responded with a goal to level the game five minutes from the end to send the opposition supporters into confident cheer and Brockham’s ruing their chances.

Silver had other plans though.  He was on a hat-trick and when Alex Flint neatly played a ball between the Leatherhead full back and centre half Silver grabbed his chance.  He shrugged off two challenges, put on the after burners and buried it.  A terrific result and a glimmer, just a glimmer of hope.

Lads of the Match:  James Rabbetts and Joe Silver

Report by Jason Rabbetts