Reedham battled their way to earn a first league win of the year against a physical Brooke Reserves side. A combination of wasteful Brooke finishing and a well-disciplined Reedham side, who took their chances when they came along, being the difference between the two teams.
Brooke started off on the ascendency creating a number of well worked opportunities within the first twenty minutes. The first came from a clever free kick. Instead of shooting at goal the free kick taker rolled the ball to the left hand side of the eighteen yard box where the Reedham defence had fallen asleep and from there the player hit a shot across goal which a player ran on to and finished into the goal. However the linesman’s flag was raised and the goal was chalked off. Another effort saw a through ball put in behind the Reedham defence flicked over Dan Carter in goal but the Brooke striker’s effort cannoned back off the bar. Another Brooke player followed the ball as it came back out into the penalty area but somehow managed to head the rebound over.
The next opportunity saw a glorious cross from the Brooke right winger take out all Reedham’s back line for the striker to run onto in the middle of Reedham’s goal. Again he failed to hit the target when it looked harder to miss with the header 8 yards from goal. The tackles by now were flying in and both sides were giving as good as they got.
Reedham were struggling to get their foot on the ball but did carve out a couple of opportunities of their own. The first coming via some good play by TG who floated in a delightful cross for Simon Burns to run onto but his header was wayward and didn’t trouble the visiting keeper. The next chance fell to James Cater who again headed over with a diving header twelve yards from goal.
This was brief rest-bite for Reedham who were being pinned back for the majority of the first part of the game. Then a moment of genuine controversy occurred. Brooke worked the ball forwards and it ran out to the left winger near to the goal line fifteen yards from Dan Carter’s goal. Chris Sparrow initially did well to stand him up but then couldn’t resist lunging in and the Brooke player fell to the ground. He was clearly two yards inside the box and everybody on the field could see it was a blatant penalty… everybody except the referee. He deemed the foul to have taken place outside the box, Reedham thus avoiding a stone wall penalty against them. Brooke protested for an enormous amount of time, clearly aggrieved to be denied in their eyes what was such a clear penalty. The resultant free kick was wasted causing yet more protestations from the Brooke team.
To compound Brooke’s misfortunes, Reedham took the lead shortly afterwards against the run of play. Good interplay between Reedham’s front two allowed Andrew Rix to bear down on Brooke’s goal, tucking away his chance underneath the advancing keeper. Reedham 1 – 0 Brooke Reserves
Brooke, clearly frustrated to be behind, started to let their discipline slip. Some hefty tackles were being made and remonstrations from the sidelines were greeted with more taunts from the Brooke manager. A tight game was now becoming tasty to say the least! The worst of the half’s tackles came from the Brooke left back who scythed through his attacking opponent from behind, yet somehow avoided a card! Another incident saw the lively Jordan Castle injure his ankle yet again and was replaced by Barry Payne.
Brooke created a couple more chances to finish the half and Reedham were thankful for the whistle and an opportunity to take stock of their position and to reorganise their shape for the second period. Most importantly it was reinforced to the players to keep their heads in the face of some hostile tactics being employed by the opposition.
Halftime: Reedham 1 – 0 Brooke Reserves
The second half started in a ferocious manner with more hefty tackles flying in. Reedham stayed strong in their formation and limited Brooke to long distance efforts at Dan Carter’s goal. Most of the shots that were fired in from Brooke were high and wide but when called upon Dan Carter was a solid last line of defence. He ably swept up any attempted through balls put in behind the defence and with the score still at 1-0 Carter produced a wonderful fingertip save to push a shot onto the post and safety.
With free kicks commonplace in a now tetchy game, Reedham won a free kick thirty yards from goal in a central position. Simon Burns stepped up to take a shot and curled a terrific shot into the top left hand corner of the goal to give Reedham a much needed level of comfort in the game. Reedham 2 - 0 Brooke Reserves
Reedham were forced into a double substitution shortly after the goal as the tidy Chris Mahoney felt his hamstring and Barry Payne taking himself off the pitch before tempers were raised further. Fergus Ogg and Chris Edwards both came on to give Reedham a new look left hand side. It was from this left hand side that a lot of the action now centred on. Ogg immediately got into the game chasing a lost cause to win a throw in deep in Brooke’s half, keeping them penned in. Edwards was providing good defensive support and felt the full impact of Brooke’s physical approach when being completely wiped out by Brooke’s manager now on the pitch trying to influence the game.
Reedham’s back line were being marshalled superbly by the stand in captain for the day Ricky Grimmer and on more than one occasion their shape and holding of the line caught the Brooke forwards’ offside. TG and Dan Taylor were having excellent games in centre midfield hassling, harrying and condensing the space afforded to the Brooke midfield. Simon Burns was being kicked from pillar to post in his role just off Andrew Rix as Brooke found it hard to contain him.
With the game moving into the last fifteen minutes Reedham struck a decisive final blow. Ogg created some space for himself and played in a ball round the back of the Brooke centre back for Simon Bruns to run onto. With the keeper rushing off his line Burns clipped the ball over him and into the net to settle the Reedham nerves. Reedham 3 - 0 Brooke Reserves
Reedham replaced the tiring Dan Taylor for Chris Earl and Andrex Rix made way for Josh Cox to get a run out. Reedham saw out Brooke’s attempts to get back in the game, fending off a series of free kicks in and around the box with the walls and Dan Carter holding strong. The referee signalled the end of the game and Reedham celebrated their first league win of the season.
Next up is an away league encounter with AFC Wetlegate.
Goal Scorers: Reedham – Andrew Rix (30), Simon Burns (65), (75)
