Badgers suffer last minute defeat

Wednesday 7th May

JW Hunt Cup Semi-Final

Dudley Town 1 Brocton 0

3 weeks after their play-off semi-final defeat to Shifnal Town, Brocton returned to action in the JW Hunt Cup, Cooper Marsh replaced the absent Jake Danan in the starting lineup with the only change from the team that lost at Shifnal.

Both teams took a while to settle into the game, wayward passes, and discomfort on the ball; an early switch to Harry Crook found its way to Connor Armstrong, but his shot wouldn’t trouble Tony Allsopp. Dudley overpowered Brocton in the midfield, with the Badgers struggling to keep hold of the ball, not helped by the continuation of errors on their behalf. The first half was lacking many clear-cut chances for either side, but Dudley had a few shots at goal after dispossessing Ben Haddaway and Jake Thomas in midfield on separate occasions. For the opening 20 minutes, Marsh seemed to have a good handle on Crook, but as Dudley grew into the game, he began to cause the young defender more and more trouble, cutting inside and having a penalty appeal waved away by the referee. Brocton began to get a foothold on the game towards the end of the first half, with Christian Blanchette causing problems for the Dudley backline – Blanchette hassled Luke Hennesey by the corner flag and picked his pocket, finding Charlie King who flicked to Will Whieldon, but his shot goes just wide. Just moments later, Blanchette broke away down the left and found Whieldon again on the right, who tried a shot on the outside of his boot from the edge of the box, it spun wide but at the last moment looked as if it was curling back inside! The half-time whistle would come not long after a free kick from Dudley was blocked by the wall, and both teams went in at half-time with encouraging signs from an attacking point of view, but mistakes at the back for both sides almost cost both teams in this highly contested game.

HT: Dudley Town 0-0 Brocton

Brocton started the second half just as they ended the first, with a chance for Reg Smith shooting from range but unable to trouble the goalkeeper. The Dudley threat still loomed, Crook once again finding room out wide but dragging wide. Josh Simcox tried to catch the goalkeeper out with a looping shot from range and then defended straight up the other end to slide in and disposes Matt Funge. A game that lacked many clear-cut chances was suddenly opened up from a Dudley corner, which was flicked down and pushed onto the underside of the bar by Allsopp from close range, keeping the game level. From here the game turned into an end-to-end scrap, with Blanchette switching to Whieldon who cut inside and got his shot away, but the keeper parried the shot but ultimately claimed it. Brocton looked more likely of the two sides to grab a goal, but it just wasn’t falling for them in the final third, shots from Thomas and Smith went over or great interchange from the on-running defenders was ruined by one pass too many, keeping the game goalless for now. The final ten minutes came and so did the tired legs for both sides, who’d had no football for almost a month – Smith finds half-a-yard out right and shoots with venom straight at the goalkeeper, but once again Brocton hadn’t got nearly enough shots away. Into seven additional minutes, a switch to Funge out on the right allows him to beat Simcox and cut inside, he drags back by the byline and fires his shot low and hard, which hits Simcox and stumbles over the line, nothing Allsopp could do, and Dudley took the lead in added time. 1-0. The substitutions of Jude King, Morgan Payne, and Cam Osborne couldn’t make the difference, and a snapshot from Payne with seconds to go would be it, as the referee’s whistle went, and the travelling Dudley support erupted as their side would travel to Molineux in June.

The end of a long but successful season, the Brocton players can hold their heads up high as they’ve well and truly earned a good rest! See you in 2025/26!

FT: Dudley Town 1-0 Brocton

Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Cooper Marsh (Kenny Devoir 65’), Josh Simcox, Ben Haddaway (Cam Osborne 90’), Tom Vaughan, Charlie King, Will Whieldon, Jake Thomas (Morgan Payne 90’), Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway, Christian Blanchette (Jude King 80’); Unused: Lucas Green-Birch

Dudley Town: Tom Carter, Luke Hennesey, Tom Owen, Joe Colley, Jamie Biddall, Owen Massey (Ethan Muckley), Dan Jones (Alex Perry), Connor Armstrong, Matt Funge, Jordan Davies, Harry Crook; Subs: Lewis Mitchell, Lewis Riley-Stewart, Todd Sherwood

Yellow Cards: Marsh (Brocton), Armstrong (Dudley)