Brockham Badgers U16A 4 - 2 AFC Brooklands

Neither Brockham Badgers or AFC Brooklands had met each other before so this Surrey Youth League Invitation Cup draw was a bit of an unknown quantity for both sides.  Brockham started brightly and were comfortable in possession, moving the ball quickly with some good two touch football.  Their patient build up play was rewarded when Luke Brightman played a lovely through ball from the middle of the park between the AFC full back and centre half for Michael Cheeseman to latch onto.  Cheeseman started where he finished his stunning debut match last week scoring once again with a perfectly taken goal from 15 yards, struck hard and low off his left foot beyond an on-rushing goal keeper.

Sam Lloyd is a combative captain, always there to win a fifty fifty ball and lead his team by example.  When he ran onto another ball behind the Brooklands back line it seemed his first touch had invited the keeper to collect, but Lloyd was having none of it.  He stretched to toe the ball first and was taken down in the area by the momentum of the advancing AFC keeper on a wet sliding surface.  Cheeseman had been nominated for spot kicks but Lloyd picked up the ball and nobody was going to tell him otherwise.  He despatched the penalty confidently and Brockham were cruising.

Luc Jhugroo had put in another excellent performance but was crocked by a groin strain minutes before half time.  Brockham had to switch their defensive line-up to accommodate the injury and other missing players but everyone slotted in and performed superbly.  Had it not been for a comical goal ten minutes into the second half and a tired pass 10 minutes from time Brockham should and would have kept a clean sheet.  James Rabbetts advanced out of his area to nod a 10 yard bouncing ball to man of the match Oscar Cremmen in midfield.  The ball should have bounced up to meet his head but somehow just slid flat across the ground leaving Rabbetts stranded and gifting an easy tap in for the Brooklands striker.

Brockham remained patient though and stuck to their game plan and sure enough the maturity of their play enabled them to take a two goal lead again.  Lloyd received a pass to feet with his back to goal and under tight pressure from an AFC defender.  Lloyd rolled his body and with a nice turn of pace and deft footwork freed himself and ran into the space behind the Brookland left back.  Looking up he spotted Jack Coppin flying to the back post.  Lloyd delivered an inch perfect ball across the goal where Coppin tapped in from two yards out.

Brooklands nicked one more goal when Brightman sold Rabbetts short with a tired back pass from where their striker nipped in, rounded Rabbetts and slotted into an empty net.  Ten minutes from the final whistle Brockham won a free kick 30 yards from the Brooklands goal.  Jordan Martin played an intelligent ball to Cheeseman’s feet twenty yards out who was able to turn and shoot.  An outstretched Brooklands defensive leg changed the direction of the ball and gave the keeper no chance.  Brockham saw the game out confidently and can look forward to the next round of the cup.

 

Brockham Badgers U11A 4 - 6 Bookham Colts

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 15^th 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.