Tuesday 19th March
North West Counties Football League First Division South
Stockport Georgians 0 Brocton 1
Jake Thomas was well enough to take a place on the bench and Josh Simcox came in for Matt Bestall
in an otherwise unchanged starting line up. Georgians refreshed their line up with four outfield changes from their previous match.
It was immediately clear what the home side's game plan was as they closed down quickly all over the pitch and attempted to feed fast breaks through Brocton's rearguard. The speed of closing down carried the inevitable risk of giving away fouls when the timing was not spot on and Connor Haddaway felt the effects as early as thhe first minute.
Reg Smith was soon through with the goals in his sights but the ball was a little too far ahead of him and Luke Graham in goal for Georgians was alert and gathered safely.
When Charlie King was tripped on 10 minutes it was Connor Haddaway and Will Whieldon who sized up the free kick. Reg Smith peeled of and met the kick on the volley to give Brocton an early lead.
Georgians were undeterred from their plan and Harry Lynn's dart forward was only halted because he had moved too early and was caught off side.
It was end to end and Charlie King played in Morgan Payne on 20 minutes for Payne to strike for goal from 25 yards, seeing his effort go wide.
It was the Brocton players then who were penalised for fouls as first Tom Vaughan and then Josh Simcox gave Kyle Wych the chance to take free kicks in dangerous areas. The second, had to be headed away from goal bit was returned only for an off side as Brocton's back line kept their discipline.
Josh Simcox committed one foul too many moments later and found himself in the referee's book and Paul Beresford soon joined him as his contiual hugging of Reg Smith met with the referee's displeasure, although Smith himself found his way into the book not too long afterwards as the referee decided to even things up. The game was becoming scrappy and perhaps half time and might cool a few heads.
Half Time: Stockport Georgians 0 Brocton 1
Morgan Payne had the first productive move of the second period as he fought his way to the left bye line and wriggled towards the box. his shot come cross across the face of goal was well saved at full stretch by Graham.
Tony Allsopp came to Brocton's rescue as he tipped a shot onto his bar for the ball to be cleared to safety although had it gone in the visitors would have been very agrieved as there was a clear full blooded two handed push just ahead of the shot at goal.
Kenny Devoir was sin binned for overdoing his disagreement with a decision and Brocton had to work extra hard with just ten players as they saw out the ten minutes.
Matt Bestall replaced Josh Simcox and was doing a good job seeing the ball out only for Tom Vaughan to be penalised and booked as he tried to prevent pressure on Bestall unfairly. The ball into the box from the free kick was repelled and it was Brocton on the break. The break was a good one and well supported in numbers but foundered close to goal.
Will Whieldon was replaced by Christian Blanchette and Morgan Payne by Jake Thomas as Brocton tried to maintain their energy levels in the face of increasing home pressure. It was a case of holding what they had as Brocton saw out time with Ben Haddaway and Reg Smith the final two to be substituted by Cameron Osborne and Seb Conaghan respectively.
A fractious game left both sides feeling hard done by as Georgians finally managed to get a runner past the Brocton back line, this time with Tony Allsopp well out of his goal, only for play to be pulled back for a free kick.
Full Time: Stockport Georgians 0 Brocton 1
Stockport Georgians: Luke Graham, Paul Connor, Will Callan, Matthew Widdowson, Paul Beresford, Thomas Russell, Kyle Wych, William Wareing, Harry Lynn, Adam Dahou, Joel Atkinson.
Subs: Harry Lambert, Leo Rafferty, Nathan Lees, Calvin Harper, Joseph Collins
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Adam Weldon, Josh Simcox, Kenny Devoir, Tom Vaughan, Ben Haddaway, Will Whieldon, Charlie King, Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway, Morgan Payne.
Used Subs: Matt Bestall, Jake Thomas, Seb Conaghan, Christian Blanchette, Cameron Osborne
Attendance 91
