Saturday October 7th
North West Counties Football League First Division South
Brocton 10 New Mills 2
Brocton made one change from the side that won 5-1 at Cammell Laird in their last outing. Ben Haddaway took his place in the heart of the defence in the absence of Kenny Devoir who was ill. There was a rare appearance on the subs bench for manager Alex Curtis. New Mills had a completely different squad from the one that Brocton faced back in August and were a side in transition.
Brocton started very quickly and an interchange of passes between four players created a chance for Lucas Green-Birch whose shot was off target. Kyle McGovern had the first opportunity for New Mills, heading wide in the 4th minute. Brocton were playing a patient game and went close in the 13th minute when a shot from 25 yards from Jake Thomas was just over the bar. A minute later, Christian Blanchette forced the first of many good saves from New Mills’ keeper Niall Jordan. A number of short passes created an opening for Connor Haddaway with the effort blocked by the New Mills defence. Brocton had the ball in the net in the 22nd minute. Thomas threaded a pass through to Reg Smith who slotted home from an offside position. Brocton finally broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. A cross from Connor Haddaway was missed in the area but Blanchette, waiting beyond the far post, hammered his shot into the roof of the net. Brocton made it two a couple of minutes later. A left wing cross from Connor Haddaway was headed home by Smith. New Mills didn’t let their heads drop and they went close when Ollie Havens shot was saved by the feet of Tony Allsopp. Havens again tested Allsopp in the 35th minute as New Mills searched for a way back into the game. Jordan pulled off a fantastic save to tip over a header from Smith, from a perfect delivery from Matty Bestall. Leon Barker-Williams fired over for New Mills before Smith teed up Will Whieldon, his shot saved by Jordan. Brocton made it three in the 43rd minute. A free-kick from Whieldon was parried by Jordan into the path of Blanchette and he hammered his shot into the roof of the net. Brocton were eager for more goals and a superb run by Blanchette was blocked for a corner. A minute into stoppage time, it should have been four. Connor Haddaway played the ball to Blanchette, he rolled the ball into the path of Green-Birch, and with the goal at his mercy, he cleared the cross bar. Blanchette again got the wrong side of his defender but this time his shot was over the bar.
Half-Time: Brocton 3 New Mills 0
Brocton continued where they had left off and increased their lead in the 47th minute. An inch perfect through ball from Smith was into the path of Whieldon and he beat Jordan with ease. New Mills grabbed a lifeline in the 51st minute. Charlie King appeared to be fouled on the goal line but the referee waved play on. The ball was played inside to Sam Deering who finished in the corner. It took Brocton three minutes to re-establish their four goal lead. A mistake at the back by New Mills left Smith in possession, in acres of space, and he finished with aplomb. The crazy scoring continued immediately with New Mills pulling a goal back. Excellent work down the left by Max Lewens ended with a firm shot across Allsopp and into the far corner. Again, New Mills’ joy lasted less than a minute as Whieldon was played in and lifted a delightful chip over Jordan to make it 6-2. Excellent play between King and Smith saw a firm cross from the Brocton striker reach Blanchette who couldn’t turn his head to get the header on target. Morgan Payne was introduced on 61 minutes and within fifteen seconds of coming on, he had shot straight at Jordan. With three players on two goals, the race was on to see who would claim a hat-trick and it was Smith who achieved it, rounding Jordan and tapping home in the 66th minute. Three minutes later and Brocton scored their 8th of the afternoon. Payne the player to get the wrong side of the New Mills defence before rounding Jordan and finding the net. There was no let up from the league leaders. King found Whieldon down the right and his low cross was met by Payne but well defended. A cross from Whieldon picked out Cam Osborne but he chose not to shoot first time, and when he did get his shot off it was blocked by the defence. Brocton scored their 9th goal in the 79th minute. Curtis played the ball into the path of King and his fierce shot rattled the woodwork. The ball came out to Matty Bestall whose cross was turned in by Osborne. To New Mills immense credit, they continued to look for goals and the hard working Deering forced a fine save from Allsopp. The impressive Lewens, in space on the left, fired over the bar. Into stoppage time, King was shown a second yellow card for delaying the restart – Brocton’s first red card of the season. Four minutes into stoppage time, Osborne was fouled in the area. Osborne himself took the penalty, making no mistake to bring up double figures for the home side. The final attempt of the game went to Lewens who beat Evans down the left but saw his shot deflected.
Full-Time: Brocton 10 New Mills 2 Attendance:128
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Adam Weldon, Matty Bestall, Ben Haddaway (Charlie King 18), Tom Vaughan, Lucas Green-Birch, Will Whieldon (Alex Curtis 74), Jake Thomas (Morgan Payne 61), Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway (Dan Evans 63), Christian Blanchette (Cam Osborne 68)
New Mills: Niall Jordan, Kaine Tyrese Martin (Daniel McLoughlin 45), Max Lewens, Paul Heilbron (Harry Butterworth 67), Kyle McGovern (Evan Kimber 70), Leon Barker-Williams, Brandon Byers-Wilkes, Olaolu Odipe, Sam Deering, Ollie Havens (Kieran Flanagan 59), Isidro Cata
Yellow Cards: Whieldon, King (Brocton)
Red Cards: King (Brocton)
