Tuesday 23rd July 2024
Pre-Season Friendly
Brocton 3-3 Sporting Khalsa
Brocton made four changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Stafford Rangers on Saturday. In came, Morgan Payne, Christian Blanchette, Cooper Marsh and Archie Russell with Cam Osborne on the bench for the first time in pre-season. Due to injuries and unavailability, Brocton could only name three substitutes. Sporting Khalsa had made some significant signings with a view to gain promotion from Step 4 this season and arrived at Silkmore Lane with a strong squad.
It was another early goal in a Brocton game, but this time not for the home side, as an early corner looped to the back post and was headed home by Luke Ward to give Khalsa the lead after just four minutes in. A dominant opening ten minutes from Khalsa, in which they showed their quality, led to them doubling their lead, with strong and confident play in midfield resulting in a through ball splitting the Brocton backline and allowing Liam Kirton to tuck it home to make it 2-0. It wouldn’t be long before Brocton got their first opportunity; great battling from Marsh on the right-hand side found Will Whieldon in space, but a flash shot at goal didn’t trouble Sam Arnold in the Khalsa goal. The game began to open up more for Brocton who, after their shaky opening ten, began to settle and get a better grip of the game – but another Khalsa corner whipped in saw former Badger, James McGrady, rattle the crossbar. Khalsa showed their aerial dominance throughout this game and another long ball to the left wing, created a good opportunity as an overlapping run saw the ball flash across the face of the goal but Gaz Singh couldn't convert it from a few yards out. Brocton went straight up the other end, with great play by Reg Smith who took the ball down brilliantly and found Blanchette, who beat one defender but fired his shot at Arnold, the ball slipping out of his hands before recovering it. A frustrated Brocton backline began to argue amongst themselves as they allowed a ball in behind to almost make it 3-0 if it wasn’t for a great save from close range with his feet from Allsopp to deny Isai Marselia. Two good chances for the Badgers just before the break, with Whieldon dragging wide from twenty yards and Payne also dragging his shot just wide of the post.
HT: Brocton 0-2 Sporting Khalsa
Brocton made a quick start to the second half as Blanchette down the right-hand side whipped a ball into Payne, who connected with a volley on the turn, but it just missed the bottom right corner. That quick start was nullified as a misunderstanding between Josh Simcox and Allsopp at the back, allowed Singh to score one of the easiest goals he’ll ever get to make it 3-0 to the visitors. Things then went from bad to worse for the Badgers, as a late challenge from Charlie King, who had impressed once again in midfield, saw a straight red card shown by the referee to the confusion of many; pushing and shoving then broke out between both sets of players, which had to be separated by the referee; a yellow card may have been a more fitting punishment. Although Brocton had been down to ten, they were allowed to play with eleven following a request from the Khalsa coaching staff, with Ben Hackett being brought on to make things even. Khalsa would get back into their dominant form of the first half, with a cut back to the edge of the box hitting the woodwork again. Osborne made an immediate impressions after coming on as sub, and within seven minutes he’d popped one in the back of the net, but the linesman’s flag went up for offside – another contentious decision by the officials, to the frustration of the Brocton team. Brocton’s goal finally came in the seventy-second minute after a long ball over the top from Allsopp found the boot of Smith who was allowed to turn on the edge of the box and feed Lucas Green-Birch who slotted it away to give the Badgers a way back into this game. Seb Conaghan, who had been dangerous down the right since his introduction, cut inside off the right wing and was bundled over by the defender inside the penalty area, but surprisingly the referee waved it away. Brocton continued to threaten the Khalsa goal, and it was Whieldon in the eightieth, who tapped it in after a ball snuck past the Khalsa defence towards the back post to make it 3-2 and an interesting final ten minutes. Conaghan found Green-Birch on the edge of the box, who attempted a travella, but it flew over the bar to the dismay of his teammates. A late challenge in midfield by Jaydn Campbell on Green-Birch saw another scuffle break out with Brocton wanting the referee to show some consistency after the dismissal of King. The Khalsa sub received a yellow which fired up Brocton even more. A push on Green-Birch just outside the box led to a free-kick, in which Whieldon couldn’t get it up and over in time to trouble the goalkeeper. Brocton kept pushing for that equalizer, a late corner in the ninetieth minute won by Conaghan and Hackett, was taken short and found its way into the feet of Morgan Payne about thirty yards from goal. He took a touch out of his feet and rifled it into the top left corner across goal to make it 3-3. Payne raised both his arms into the air as his teammates came to celebrate after his wonder goal, and the final whistle sounded on a fantastic comeback from the Badgers.
FT: Brocton 3 Sporting Khalsa 3 Attendance:121
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Cooper Marsh, Josh Simcox, Archie Russell, Tom Vaughan, Charlie King (Ben Hackett 55), Christian Blanchette (Seb Conaghan 64), Lucas Green-Birch, Reg Smith (Morgan Payne 85), Will Whieldon, Morgan Payne (Cam Osborne 64)
Sporting Khalsa: Sam Arnold, Carlo Franco, Gaz Singh, Dom Perkins, Luke Ward, Vidal Hendriksson, Robbie Bunn, James McGrady, Isai Marselia, Lewis McPike, Liam Kirton. Subs (all used): Todd Ferrier, Mat Fulloway, Alex Melbourne, Kieron Whittaker, Simeon Cobourne, Brandon Ganley, Dilano Reid
Report from Zak Whitton
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