The Belvedere looking to make it three wins on the bounce this year were unsure what to expect when facing a much changed Broadmayne side to the team they beat 7-nil earlier in the season, as their merger with "The Station" had brought in some much needed quality and strength to the rock bottom league side. The Belvedere had Manager Dave Dulston back in the hot seat after Greg had kept it warm the week before, another noticeable return to the side was with Andrew Dixon but this was in the unusual position of Goal keeper! There was also the return of Matty Howard after being unavailable in recent weeks due to family commitments. Terry Hoey was out through illness so Dave put his trust into the young & lively Lewis Attree at left back.
The Belve attacking up the gentle slopped pitch started off pretty much in the way the belvedere boys had in the last two league games with some good football being played and with some fast counter attacks but with the Broadmayne back line proving more resilient than in games gone bye, the Belvedere could find no way to break them down. The new look Broadmayne seemed to grow in confidence and pressed forward, this meant a lot of the football was played in the middle of the pitch with constant battles of possession with MacKenzie showing his steel with some great tackles for the Belve and the usual energetic running of Rawlings chasing down the Broadmayne midfielders. Neither side could settle on the ball and although some neat football was played the Belve seemed not to be able to find that correct final pass when needed because either a mixture of poor communication or wayward hollywood passes. Then with a change in tactics Belvedere started to get the ball wide where they got some joy from their attacks. Some good ball work on the right wing by Campbell-Bell found him some space to cross for Ash Hine who came close with a header. Then with some great running by Dean Hoey on the left wing came another cross which led to a corner. The same seemed to keep happening but this time with Ash Hine finding himself on the right wing crossing the ball but with no real challenge from the Belvedere players in the opposition penalty box Broadmayne were able to clear. Then finally another ball into the box gave Belverdere the chance they deserved with a poor clearance coming to the versatile defender Dave Sowerby who ran onto the loose ball from 25 yards out and he shot with a dipping drive which left the Broadmayne keeper no chance as it lobbed over his head and dipped under the bar for 1-0. Shortly after the restart with the Broadmayne still getting organised after the goal the Belvedere pressed on down the right wing again from good play with MacKenzie and Sowerby leading to a throw in...up came Greg "Delap" Collins with a great throw to find Ash Hine inside the penalty area who let the ball come across his body and finished with what was a tricky finish but again he made it look so easy, 2-0. Broadmayne pulled their socks up after the second goal and started to cause the belvedere midfield problems by adding an extra man in their middle, to outnumber Mackenzie and Rawlings. With Mercer and Turner winning most balls in the air it was the runners along the ground which led to some attacks from Broadmayne, which on another day could have ended better for them if not for the great tracking of Lewis Attree and defensive blocks by Turner and Mercer. But for all the defensive pairings hard work, it was undone in a moment of madness where neither center back took charge of a ball over the top leaving the Belve makeshift keeper in two-minds whether to come or not and in the end doing neither and Broadmayne capitalised lobbing the ball over his head for 2-1. The game restarted and the Belve boys were left to play it out until half time to regroup and refocus after what was an up and down first half for them.
With some wise words at half time from gaffer Dulston the Belve came out re-organised and ready for the battle ahead. Much of the 2nd half went the way of the first but in reverse with Broadmayne now attacking looking for the equalizer and Belvedere defending looking to counter. After 70 min’s Deano who ran himself into the ground with his attacking runs down the left and tracking back in the first half came off for new boy Jason Swindell who slotted into left back pushing Attree up onto the left wing. This gave Broadmayne something to think about as Attree still had energy to burn it seemed as he burst into the box to find himself on the end of a great bit of play and cross by Sowerby but the finish unfortunately could not match it. Again more battling in midfield from Mackenzie, Rawlings and Mercer saw the Belvedere hold strong against the well organised Broadmayne outfit. With time ticking down Mercer lofted a hopeful ball forward where Campbell-Bell sprung the Broadmayne offside trap catching perhaps not just the defence asleep but also the dozing linesman as he went one on one with the keeper, who he rounded and finished to make it 3-1. The game now over with just 5 mins reamaining the Belve could relax after knowing they had been in a game.
Today again turned out to be a massive 3 points, taken from a side that will surely cause others problems in the league with their remaining games and hopefully get themselves off the bottom of the table as they were by far not the worst team we have faced this season on todays showing. But it shows us again that no games can be taken as easy in this league and with some good parts in today’s performance from the Belve boys there was some bad bits of play creeping in too which Dulston will want cut out with all eyes now turning to the massive Cup Semi-finale next week!!
