As the season enters the home straight, fixture congestion often becomes an issue so we were thankful to Bracknell Town Reds for hosting a mid week fixture under floodlights. With our previous encounter still fresh on the minds from a few days beforehand it promised to be another good battle. On the big pitch we looked to take charge early and got the early breakthrough we were after. On 6 minutes a good move started with Lewis, Dom, JJ and Isaac showing good composure at the back, and a forward ball finding Oli who held it up well. Zahir made a good run and was slipped in by Oli but his shot was well saved, but Mikey was switched on and had followed up to tap into the empty net. The rest of the half flew by and we created some decent chances, Freddie stinging the keepers hands from the edge of the box and Oli causing constant problems for the defence. Mikey showed some blistering pace to get free and played a good ball across that pushed Oli just a bit wider than he’d of liked and his effort was saved. Hayden was getting a lot of ball down the right and linking well with Erim and Kris who were moving the ball well at times, but it all got a bit frantic as both teams looked to gain the initiative. HT 0-1. We were not surprised to see Bracknell start the 2nd half strongly and we were looking to break out on the counter attack. Isaac was having a great battle with their lone striker and giving him very little and we looked comfortable. A good piece of skill saw Bracknell win a penalty which was converted in the 43rd minute and the game was suddenly in the balance. Joe B had come on at half time and Luca B came on to make his first appearance for the Rebels after the equaliser to bring energy into midfield. Our response was excellent and we re-took the lead in the 51st minute. Luca B did really well to win a battle with two Bracknell players and the ball came to Mikey on half way, he beat his marker and surged forward down the left. Zahir had again made a good forward run and took Mikey’s pass excellently in his stride. Zahir then dropped his shoulder to cut inside onto his right foot and found a yard of space to unleash an absolute bullet from the edge of the area that gave the keeper no chance - a brilliant goal. Oli nearly made it three soon after - Zahir slipping him in but his goal bound shot was excellently tipped round the post low to the keepers right. A couple more subs saw George and Kris bring another energy boost and we scored again in the 58th minute. Kris won the ball in our defensive third which saw Oli released down the right. Zahir again made a lung bursting run and was found by Oli. Zahir beat the on rushing keeper and kept composure to find Mikey in the box who also remained calm to take a touch and fire in. We secured the points three minutes later when Mikey completed his hat trick having been put through by Luca B, he again showed great composure to take his time and find a clinical finish under pressure from the chasing defender. We were able to make several more changes which saw us through the remainder of the game. FT 1-4. A very entertaining and competitive game played in good spirit. Credit again to Bracknell who battled hard all game and contributed in making it an excellent game for the neutral. The game was in the balance until we scored 3 goals in a devastating 10 minute spell. Defensively we were good - JJ, Freddie, Lewis and Isaac gave away very little. Dom was reliable when called upon. George, Joe B and Luca all contributed positively having come on and Erim, Kris and Hayden were excellent in midfield. The front three of Oli, Mikey and Zahir were ruthless and unplayable at times. MoM was shared with Zahir and Mikey - both having been involved heavily with our attacks. Well done lads, we go again…..
