This was a classic game of two halves. 30 minutes of Badgers domination followed by a second half in which they pressed the self-destruct button. The first half was a disciplined performance. Brockham enjoyed the majority of possession and converted two of their best chances into goals to take a comfortable lead. The first came in the 15th minute when Bookham conceded a free kick 20 yards from goal. Joseph Rabbetts swung in a dangerous dead ball between the penalty spot and keeper which was met with a neat flick from the head of William Timmons burying the ball in the back of the Colts’ net. The black and whites’ second was scored by Callum Holder in a magnificent solo effort cutting in from the right and passing the ball through the keeper’s legs.
Bookham got one back shortly before half-time but the Badgers still seemed in control of the outcome and destined to take the points. And so it seemed when Brockham again took a two goal lead within minutes of the restart. Rabbetts whipped in a corner from the right and man of the match Luke Page was there to deftly hook the ball in on the volley. What happened next was inexplicable. Bookham shot speculatively from distance and the ball looped over Huw Morgan in goal to close the deficit to one. When an innocuous ball came in from the left two minutes later it was missed by Morgan and then fell to Rabbetts to clear under no pressure at the far post, but swinging his right it ballooned off his shin and in for an own goal to level the game.
The Badgers heads dropped when in fact they should have pushed on for the winner, whilst the Colts had their tails up. A sustained period of Bookham pressure sent panic through the Brockham ranks as they tried to fathom how they were now fighting to stay in the match. A combination of everything you shouldn’t do saw them ship three more goals in 5 minutes to take Bookham out of sight. George Wryde made a rampaging run from deep in his own half all the way to the Colts penalty area where he was brought down and Rabbetts converted from the spot to snatch a consolation goal, but it was too little too late.
