Brockham Badgers U11A are still in search of the illusive clean sheet this season but a strong performance was enough to claim all three points away to Old Coulsdon Colts.
The majority of the first half was a close affair with Coulsdon pressing at every attempt and Brockham struggling to find time or space to play out and mount any significant offensive threats. Some positional experimentation was not paying dividends so Brockham switched to their familiar formation after fifteen minutes and took the lead shortly afterwards. Louie Darlington played a nice ball into the feet of George Wryde who dragged the ball past his marker and ran at goal finishing confidently with his left.
Coulsdon continued to press and harry though and enthusiastically chased down second balls, pinning Brockham back and asking questions of Brockham’s defence. The Badgers stood the test well with particularly impressive performances from Lilly Turner and Luke Page and it was only a dead ball set piece that got the Colts back into the game. Their determined pressure forced a corner which was delivered superbly to the back post where it was buried with a powerful header and a well-timed run.
The second half required more composure and a focus on possession from Brockham. This was executed well in parts and contributed to an early second period goal from the rumbustious Wryde. He swaggered onto another lovely through ball from Darlington and muscled his way past his marker. Each stride at stunning pace gained him a little distance but he still had a lot to do to put the ball past an on-rushing Coulsdon keeper. The finish was so accurate it defied the angle, rocketed into the only passage it could past the keeper and going in off the foot of the upright.
Brockham were up and running now and shortly afterwards made it three goals to one with a fabulously executed volley from Conor Boniface who let the ball drop over his shoulder from an Owen Knowles throw into the Coulsdon area. Simple but perfectly effected.
Couldon then got themselves back into the game with an amazing strike from distance. Brockham’s defence had cleared the ball to the relative safety of midfield and just short of the half way line. The Colts were again first to the ball and from nowhere their midfielder struck it so sweetly and with such precision that the ball flew off his foot 25 yards out and never rose or fell from four inches off the glass from the moment it left his foot until ballooning the net just inside the post and out of reach of Huw Morgan in goal. One of those goals you just had to applaud.
The Badgers returned parity five minutes later and put the game beyond the Colts when Harrison Watts played a channel ball down the right to Callum Holder. Holder edged his marker for pace, nipped the ball around him, ran at goal from a wide angle and drove a fierce shot over the Coulsdon keeper.
Man of the Match: George Wryde
