Saturday 31st August
Midland Football League Premier Division
Atherstone Town 0 Brocton 2
Brocton were back on the road this weekend, visiting Atherstone Town in the Midland Football League Premier Division. Brocton were hit by injuries and named a very young bench including Tom Gleave, Liam Prendergast, and Jude King for the first time.
It was a slow start with the first chance coming after 12 minutes for the home side with a shot from distance seeming to deflect wide for a corner, only for the referee to judge it as a Brocton goal kick. Their second chance came nine minutes later with a cross from wide passing all the Brocton players in the box to find Lewis Collins whose strike from close range was saved well by Tony Allsopp. This was then closely followed by an ambitious strike from 40 yards which sailed safely over the bar, not particularly troubling the Brocton ‘keeper.
After 29 minutes, an off the ball incident led to the first yellow cards of the game as Lucas Green-Birch and Atherstone’s Kyron Green clashed in the middle. The first goal of the game came in the 35th minute following a good shot from Will Whieldon which deflected wide for a Brocton corner. The resulting set piece was initially cleared by the Atherstone defence before the ball was looped back in, finding Christian Blanchette who headed home over the top of Finlay Osborn in the home goal.
The next chance of the game came after 44 minutes when an Atherstone corner led to a header going just wide of the post. Then moments before the halftime whistle was blown, Brocton had the ball in the net again through Blanchette after the goalkeeper dropped the ball under pressure in the box, but the linesman’s offside flag ensured the teams went in at halftime only separated by a goal.
Half time: Atherstone Town 0 Brocton 1
The second half started well for Brocton with Whieldon having a good effort from distance whistle just wide of the Atherstone goal. The Badgers soon doubled their lead however in the 57th minute thanks to a wonderful solo effort from Reg Smith. Smith picked the ball up on the halfway line and charged at the Atherstone defence to strike home from outside the box, adding further to his goal tally this season after his 5-goal haul on Monday afternoon.
Both sides struggled to keep the ball on the ground throughout the match, with the only real excitement after the second goal coming through Collins for the home side, when he found himself sent to the sin bin after 62 minutes. The next effort on goal didn’t come until the 80th minute when Whieldon fancied himself to better Atherstone’s 40-yard effort in the first half, striking the crossbar from just inside the half, with Osborn nowhere near it in the goal.
Blanchette came close again three minutes later when a ball over the top found him in the box, the resulting shot earning the Badgers a corner. And then two minutes before the end of the match, Brocton substitute Jude King saw his fantastic curling effort from outside the box narrowly go off target, wide of the Atherstone goal.
Brocton’s 2-0 victory sees them rise to third in the league, 3 points behind and one game in hand on Lichfield City at the top of the table. The Badgers are next in action on Tuesday night when they visit Shifnal Town.
Full-Time: Atherstone Town 0 Brocton 2 Attendance:216
Atherstone: Finlay Osborn, Mitchell Woakes (Lewis Noon 57), Connor Gudger, Jack Wells (Tyreace Brown 57), Niall Rowe, Kyron Green, Chris Cowley, Ryan Quinn (Toby Bartram 73), Lewis Collins, Ryan Harkin (Toby Nicoll 67), Josh Steele (Thomas Healey 59)
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Alex Curtis (Jude King 65), Josh Simcox, Ben Haddaway, Tom Vaughan, Charlie King, Will Whieldon, Llucas Green-Birch, Reg Smith, Connor Haddaway, Christian Blanchette (Liam Prendergast 90+2). Subs (Not Used): Tom Gleave, Jake Triggs, Ben Hackett
Yellow Cards:
Brocton – Green-Birch 29’, Blanchette 72’
Atherstone – Green 29’, Collins (sin bin) 62’
Report by Lucas Ward
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