Today we arrived at ‘the big field Brockham’ to take on our opponents Brockham Badgers A. This was going to be a real test, Brockham have this season played 8, won 8 and only conceded 4 goals and sit comfortably at the top of division B.

We kicked off the match, and the early exchanges looked quite even with both teams having some good possession. As the half progressed the pressure on our defence was mounting, but the guys at the back worked hard to get the ball out of the danger areas. But they were up to it, and eventually, about midway through the half, we broke from defence up the pitch on the left side, only to have our effort thwarted by a miss-timed challenge, and were awarded a free kick. Adam stepped up and took a great free kick which nestled in the back of the net to put us in front.

After the kick off, we were again soaking up the pressure at the back and were defending well, but unfortunately they too were awarded a dubious free kick from just outside the penalty area. They too scored from the resulting kick, to level the game.

The half ticked on and it looked like we would go in level, but just before the break, the opposition slotted a ball through the middle, it looked like we were going to deal with it ok, but unfortunately they got the better of us and scored a well taken goal to take them into half time 2-1 up.

The half time talk focused on getting the guys to believe they could win and that being 2-1 down to a team 2 divisions above us and top of their league was not a disaster, we could do it!

The second half kicked off, the guys raised the level of their game. They were finding space and successfully completing their passes too. It wasn’t long into the half before Adam fired in a cross from the left that Josh met at the far post with his head which unfortunately flew over the bar.(The ball, not his head.)

We continued to press, the football was more controlled than in the first half, we weren’t so rushed on the ball, we were going forward more and the chances were coming - it was one of those chances that came Benjie’s way, which he put away with a superb finish.

We didn’t have to wait long for the next goal either, an Adam goal where he had driven the ball down the line and cut in to score a tremendous goal from a tight angle.

We were still only three quarters through the game,  and it was now down to focusing on and defending the lead, a nail biting ending, but we did it, and won 3-2.


So where do I start with my highlights this week? The whole team was excellent and it was a superb team effort. From the front we had Freddie, who had attracted a lot of pre-match concern from the opposition, and they targetted him with at least two defenders at all times. He dealt with this really well in holding up the ball and using it wisely. It was also good to see him at the back helping to defend towards the end of the match.

Alex Higham and Ben DeTurris: they both did excellent jobs with lots of tackles, breaking up the play and providing balls down the wings to link up with midfield.

Max and Jon: the central defenders, these guys soaked up a lot of pressure today, made many clearances and put in some great tackles.

Adam: he scored 2 today, one a well taken free kick and the other a lovely finish from the left, he also made some great challenges to gain possession.

My man of the match today goes to Toby, this was a real test for him and I feel he came through it really well, making some excellent saves. He also he held on to the ball really well when dealing with routine catches on a day when the ball was rally slippery and muddy. He was focused and encouraging too, talking with his defence, giving them confidence to leave the ball for him. Well done Toby.

This was our greatest result so far, a result that puts us into the last 8 of the competition, a real achievement for the team.

For the second week running we received excellent commendation from the opposition manager, he said in his 5 years in junior football management that he had not seen a team play such good football and he could see no reason why we couldn’t go all the way in the cup.

So well done to you all on this tremendous result and I’m really proud of you all.

Goals.

Adam (Free-Kick)
Badgers (Free-Kick)
Badgers

Half Time 2-1 Down


Benjie
Adam

Full Time 3-2 Win 

Just one final fact on the game that Toby supplied me with, today was a game we played in front of our biggest crowd of the season, with an attendance of 37 :o)


Next week we are back in league action, another potentially tough game, we are home to Ockley Acorns U12.