Saturday 7th September
Midland Football League Premier Division
Brocton 1 Uttoxeter Town 2
The Badgers returned to Silkmore Lane with two changes from the midweek defeat at Shifnal, Alex Curtis and Ben Haddaway replaced by Cooper Marsh and Kenny Devoir, respectively.
Brocton began the game strongly, finding joy down the left with Christian Blanchette throughout the first half; a good chance came only six minutes in as quick interchanges on the left wing led to a ball into the box, only for the subsequent shot to be saved by the Uttoxeter keeper, Lennon Grimley. Both sides gave as good as they got, particularly Marsh as he won many of his early duels down the right-hand side against Kieran Wild. In the twelfth minute a switch out to Connor Haddaway left the Uttoxeter backline backpedalling but missing his opportunity to shoot he played a one-two with Lucas Green-Birch and chipped one to the back post to try and found Blanchette, but the attempt resulted in a corner ball. Early signs showed a dangerous Brocton attack, but they just couldn’t break down the strong Uttoxeter defence, something that we’ve seen a few times already this season. Some great play from Will Whieldon in midfield left the defenders scrambling after completing some fancy footwork before getting his shot away but it wouldn’t trouble the keeper – Brocton immediately went straight back to attacking the Uttoxeter goal but once again struggled with that final pass. It wasn’t all one-way traffic though, as the visitors had their fair share of chances on the counterattack, focussing a lot of their play down the left wing; Wild’s subsequent shot wouldn’t really trouble Tony Allsopp. The visitors found themselves in a few more dangerous positions as the half went on, mainly coming from Wild down the right – Brocton were given a scare as Wild rode a slide tackle attempt from Devoir near the byline, but the pullback was dealt with accordingly. The best chance of the half would come to the visitors, as a counterattack split the Brocton defence open just before half time, with captain Michael Conlon knocking it around a charging Allsopp, but luckily for the Badgers his shot would rattle the side netting, and the score would stay 0-0 going into half time.
Two contrasting styles of football, the free flowing style of the Badgers, against the structured and direct style of their opposition, both sides with their fair share of opportunities but the visitors having the best chance of the half, but Brocton would be disappointed not to have capitalised on their large chunk of possession.
HT: Brocton 0 Uttoxeter Town 0
Uttoxeter would begin the second half similarly to how they ended the first, an early chance after Josh Simcox’s attempted flick on the edge of the box as luckily dragged wide, giving the home side an early warning after their slow start. The referee wasn’t afraid to get his cards out for the home side, as Charlie Marshall and Reg Smith were both booked early on, with Simcox already in the book from the first half, for late challenges but strangely he was more cautious about treating the visitors for similar things. Both sides were contesting strongly, with some good football being played, and around the hour mark Tom Vaughan stepped into midfield for another marauding midfield run; Brocton had largely controlled the midfield, with Uttoxeter’s threat coming from wide areas. Vaughan was allowed to reach the edge of the visitor’s penalty area before letting fly straight at the goalkeeper who parried the shot out to Blanchette, who’s chip to the back post was just too high for substitute Seb Conaghan. The Badgers finally began to get a grip of the game like they had in spells during the first half, finally breaking the deadlock after seventy minutes; Blanchette cutting in off the left wing and curling one to the far post, the ball bounced off the post and some confusion in the six-yard box allowed Blanchette to complete his one-two with the post and follow in his shot to give Brocton the lead. 1-0. As we approached the end of the game, Brocton seemed to have chance after chance as they looked to put the game to bed; Simcox spun brilliantly on the halfway line and drove into space, finding Blanchette who laid it off to Haddaway on the edge of the box but it was straight at the goalkeeper. Minutes later the Badgers had another opportunity on the counter attack, as Uttoxeter began to throw men forward to try and find an equalizer, Haddaway splitting open the defence to Conaghan who laid it back to Smith, but the ball bobbles up and his shot flies over the goal and into the netting behind the goal. The referee gave a large chunk of injury time at the end due to some injuries throughout the game, this would come to play into the favour of the visitors. Brocton could have countered to put the game to bed, with Smith having the chance to play in Conaghan but chose instead to try and slow play down, but the ball was won back, and the visitors went up the other end and won a throw in down the left. Robert Thorley’s throw was returned to him by Devoir’s clearance, and he beat Conaghan and whipped a ball into the danger area to find Jack Hassall to equalize, and break Brocton hearts in the ninety-fifth minute. 1-1. But sadly, it wouldn’t end there, Brocton passed all the way back to Allsopp straight from kick off, but his heavy touch would be capitalised upon by substitute Charlie Ratcliffe who pinched the ball from under the Brocton keeper’s feet to pass the ball into an open net. 1-2. While the Uttoxeter fans, players, substitutes, and coaching staff celebrated by the corner flag, the referee wouldn’t resume play and called the full time whistle on a heartbreaking afternoon for the Badgers, who will be feeling hard done by after two late goals that came largely from nothing.
An excellent game of football, which sees the visitors take themselves off the bottom of the table and into thirteenth while the home side drop down to eighth. Brocton will be hoping to bounce back on Tuesday night against Whitchurch Alport again at Silkmore Lane.
FT: Brocton 1-2 Uttoxeter Town; Attendance: 209
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Cooper Marsh, Josh Simcox, Kenny Devoir, Tom Vaughan, Charlie King, Will Whieldon, Lucas Green-Birch, Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway, Christian Blanchette
Subs: Charlie Marshall, Ben Hackett, Seb Conaghan (all Used), Jude King, Alex Curtis
Uttoxeter Town: Lennon Grimley, Ben Price, Jack Hassall, Niall Rushton, Alex Morris, Robert Thorley, Haydn Brown (Evan Richardson 76), Eric Graves (Charlie Ratcliffe 82), Joel Dyche, Michael Conlon (Lewis Dawson 50), Kieran Wild. Subs (Not Used): William Minton, Reuben Kenny
Yellow cards: Marshall, Simcox, Smith (Brocton)
Sin Bin: Blanchette (Brocton)
Match report by Zak Whitton
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