Brantham Badgers suffered their first league defeat of the season at home to Skyline, a side who we had beaten at the very start of the season. There is no doubt that since that game that Skyline have strengthened the team. They had two at the back who had played good football and they gave their whole defence a different look and attitude. They also had a couple of changes in midfield and these people seemed to be keen to run at us from the very start of the game. Badgers were taking a little time to settle down and paid the price when Skyline took an unexpected lead. Their winger was given space to run down the flank and cross the ball into the Badgers area and a forward wasted no time in hitting it home. We hit back and Jamie Carrington was unlucky with a snap shot that was not that far wide. We were starting to make inroads into the Skyline defence when we gave away a second goal. This came when the ball was hit into the area and hit Sean Kearney on the hand and the referee pointed to the spot. Despite Ash Bowdler making a great effort to stop the shot it had too much power and sailed into the back of the net. We fell further behind when the Skyline number 7 rode a couple of tackles and from a good 30 yards out let fly with a shot that flew into the roof of the net, leaving goalkeeper Asg Bowdler no chance at all. Badgers picked themselves up again and went at Skyline with a lot more determination. We pulled a goal back with a superb strike by Craig Clarke. We were awearded a free kick on the touchline and from a good 35 yards out Craig Clarke sent a stunning shot into the back of the net. The first time the keeper touched the ball was when he had to pick it out of the back of his net. Half trime 1-3
The second half saw Badgers do their share of attacking but it was going to be one of those days when we just could not add to the one goal. We certainly had chances, Ross Cracknell latched onto a loose ball and his shot was only just wide while Greg Ranson,. who got through a lot of work in midfield, hit home on the volley which the Skyline keeper did well to stop, Graham Stiff was making some telling passes through to his forwards but they were finding it hard to get past a determined and hard tackling Skyline defence. Jamie Carrington had a couple of good chances only to see the Skyline defence and keeper clear the danger. Guy Clubb and Justin "V-Man" Vince came on to try and gee the lads up and for a little while Badgers did cause Skyline problems, but several attacks seemed to break down on the edge of the Skyline area. Skyline came back into the game towards the end and two top class saves by Ash Bowdler, one a stop that a professional goalkeeper would have been proud of, kept the scoreline at 1-3. Not the best of games for the Badgers but they have got the ideal chance to get it out of their system when they travel to meet AFC Bergholt this Sunday morning. I have been told this is also the day that all of the team attend the match in fancy dress, should be well worth watching and in next week's report I will let you know what the lads were wearing. Back to football and despite the 3-1 reverse last weekend the team have done themselves and the club proud in the first 'half' of the season and their record of only having lost one league game to date is tremendous, WELL DONE LADS.
Brantham team - A.Bowdler, D.Bowdler, J.Lewis, G.Stiff, L.Clarke,S.Kearney. R.Cracknell. A.Backhouse. G.Ranson. J.Carrington and C.Clarke. subs- Guy Clubb and Justin Vince ( who came on for D.Bowdler and G.Stiff)
