Brockenhurst 0 Hythe and Dibden 3

28 September 2024

Got cold this week, hasn’t it?  Positively autumnal; and after the volume of rain we’ve had, I was quite nervous about today’s game.  But the gods smiled on us – a couple of breezy, sunny days, and the pitch was fine, not bouncing quite as high as a couple of weeks ago, but fine.  So that’s something…

September had been a difficult month for the Badgers until Tuesday’s much improved performance in the League Cup, so home fans were optimistic that the corner had been turned.  And we all know what they say about hope in football.  The list of unavailable players for Brock is getting ridiculous: I counted to seven without having to think very hard, but the starting line-up looked recognisable and credible…

But this afternoon, Brock were flat.  The visitors brought greater energy, and a plan: possibly not the most sophisticated plan, but one that was good enough.  Having said which, the Badgers started fine – Wellman headed an early corner straight at Deacon – but there were also some early warning signs, a shot on the angle which Butler only just managed to turn wide of the post.  A couple of clever Brock moves, well defended respectively by Batley and Lyett: but on 17 minutes, Hythe took the lead.  A long ball out to Laptas on the left – he was on the edge of offside, I had an impossible angle but thought he was on, someone closer said he looked off, the linesman was nowhere near in line – no flag, and he ran on into the box and smashed his shot into the far corner.  A second might have followed: the clever Hacon played an incisive pass to Goldings, but Butler saved.  And then five minutes before the break, Hacon picked the ball up 25 yards out, nobody even thought of closing him down and maybe that’s why he shot… Butler was caught in no man’s land and the ball sailed over him for 2-0.  Brock had mostly been playing in front of their opponents and needed to lift themselves before the break – Wellman headed a corner wide at the back post, and then right on the break a great cross from Walker sliced wide on the volley by Adams near the penalty spot.  He was stretching, but it might have made all the difference… HT 0-2

To be honest, precious little of great note happened in the second half: Brock toiled to no great effect, and Hythe defended solidly enough.  One early corner bounced through the box, hit Hacon, spun back – and straight into a grateful Deacon’s arms, anywhere else and it would have gone in.  Then on 58, an attacking throw for the visitors, not dealt with – and Laptas scored with an overhead kick, curling away into the far corner from 16 yards.   That scoreline exaggerated the difference between the teams, but the Badgers continued to play in tight spaces in front of the Hythe defence – high risk and low reward isn’t a great strategy!  Wellman headed a corner against the top of the bar – and finally, in the last five minutes, Brock found the intensity which had been lacking all afternoon.  The chances didn’t arrive until injury time: Moreno forced his way through two tackles and past the keeper, only to see the loose ball hacked off the line.  Fay put in a deep cross and Walker’s volley went across goal and wide.  Adams hit a free kick which bounced through the box, missed by everyone, which came back off the far post.  But it was too little, too late.  FT 0-3

This was really disappointing for Brock.  Yes OK, we were missing Sam, Rian, Brandon, Luke, Rhys, Ben and Josh; not saying all of them would necessarily have started, but that’s not a bad core to a team.  Specks of light: Callum Taylor had a good game, he was the sponsors’ man of the match and he would have been mine too, for what it’s worth.  But overall, there was no argument with the result; one team scored three, one scored none, and that tells its own tale.