Brockham Badgers U10 Barbarians team travelled to Teddington to play NPL Youth who were currently occupying the top spot in Division Three of the Epsom and Ewell League.
Brockham started strongly from the whistle with healthy contests for the ball all over the pitch. On three minutes Brockham's Ben MacKenzie managed to break along the wing and cross to Tom Ambrose for a first Badger's strike which was only kept out by a NPL defender on the line.
Some fine defensive work by Brockham's Ben Austin and William Glenn gave protection to their goal and also created options for quick counter attacks. With Brockham's players pushing forward, a long range ball from NPL found their lone striker who volleyed past Brockham's Josh Snow to put them in front after nine minutes.
From the restart Brockham quickly gained the upper hand and a great move from Arun Watkins gave Callum Hollder clear sight of goal but the ball fizzed just wide. With just one minute remaining of the first half, Brockham's Ambrose made a sublime pass to Holder who skipped past the NPL goalkeeper to coolly slot home the equaliser.
In the second half Brockham were again on top as MacKenzie and Austin terrorised both wings. Brockham's defenders were pushing forward and an audacious strike from the half way line by Bailey Osbourne only narrowly prevented Brockham from taking the lead.
About half way through the second half and against the run of play, Brockham were defending in numbers, as a scuffle in the box enabled NPL to grab another goal and take the lead 2-1. With ten minutes left, Brockham continued to push forward and showed no signs of tiredness when dealing with some quick NPL counter attacks. Although Brockham had the lion share of the chances in the remaining minutes, they were unable to find the all-important equaliser and the game ended in a narrow victory for NPL.
Final Score NPL Youth U10 2 - 1 Brockham Badgers Barbarians U10
Man of the Match: Tom Ambrose
Brockham Badgers: Thomas Ambrose, Ben Austin, William Glenn, Callum Holder, Bailey Osborne (Capt.), Josh Snow, Ben MacKenzie, Arun Watkins
