Brockenhurst 2 Christchurch 1

30 July 2024

So here we go, new season – starting in July, which is unusual to say the least.  I say every year that I can’t really do a season preview: I don’t know enough about the comings and goings at other clubs.  You’d expect Stoneham and Portchester to be competitive again, after two successive top-four finishes; and Baffins have presumably added goals with the signing of Brett Pitman.  Beyond that, play-off places are up for grabs, and there’s no reason for me to suppose that the usual suspects won’t be involved in that battle.  Having said which, we know from experience how quickly things can turn, with strugglers becoming challengers and vice versa.  There’s also the addition of no fewer than four promoted clubs this year.  The three from Division One should all be OK, assuming they’ve kept their squads largely together, and added a couple (Hamworthy Rec in particular were very strong last season until tiredness caught up with them); and then we have newcomers Wincanton Town, promoted from the Toolstation Western Division One and shunted across to join the Wessex.  The thing with promoted sides is, they’re used to winning.  They’ve made it a habit, and they know how to do it, which means they can be dangerous.

And Brock?  I’m cautiously optimistic.  There’s been a lot to like about some of the pre-season games (and admittedly less to like about others!), the squad looks good and, most importantly, designed to play a brand of football they all understand and are comfortable with.  I’m slightly nervous about where the goals will come from (he says, three days after hitting six) and slightly nervous that we’re one or two injuries short of a problem.  But that, to be fair, is probably true of every team in the league.  In the end, your season isn’t defined by how good your best performance is, but how many performances are ‘good enough'.  And every single game counts.

Starting with Christchurch, first-up for the second time in three seasons.  For those who hadn’t been to the pre-season games there were five familiar faces in the starting line-up and six new signings for the Badgers.  Church have been rebuilding also under a new management team, following a very difficult year: I had no sense of what to expect from them, apart from a tough game against the club from down the road. 

Brock made a lightning start to the season.  34 seconds on the clock when Atiako-Hall won a bouncing ball near the edge of the Christchurch box with his back to the defender, shifted it sideways and lobbed keeper Rodwell from 20 yards, the ball just bouncing into the corner.  I am pretty confident this will have been the first goal scored in the Wessex this season!  Only a couple more minutes had passed when Atiako-Hall flew down the right and put in a cross which was just too high for Taylor in the middle.  But Church grew back into the game, confident and controlled in possession: one curiosity when the assistant flagged for offside but the ref allowed play to continue, leading to an excellent Butler save while most of us assumed play would be stopped.  Brock were struggling to gain, and then retain, possession – something which would continue for the rest of the game, but they gave themselves a cushion on 19: the high press was effective, Pearce-Eavis picked up the ball and although Rodwell made the save, Atiako-Hall was on hand to bury the rebound.  Chances to extend the lead – Wellman had a header cleared off the line, and then an excellent Burgess tackle on the edge of his own box led to a breakaway which saw Atiako-Hall shoot across goal and narrowly wide.  Atiako-Hall had been the star of the show, which made it all the more disappointing that he was fouled by Khider (a nasty one, that) and had to go off injured on 38 minutes.  Even so, Brock had good chances before the interval – a defender missed a long ball, Burgess found himself in on goal and rolled the ball to the keeper; and then right on the stroke of half-time, a terrible Christchurch corner, laid back to nobody and intercepted by McCarthy-Gardiner, forward to Pearce-Eavis, the cross headed out over his own bar by a defender.  No time to take the corner.  HT 2-0

The report makes it sound like it had been one-way traffic but that was far from the case.  Christchurch were good in possession, kept and moved the ball well, whereas the Badgers were too careless.  Against that, Brock were good off the ball and solid defensively, and for all their possession the Church hadn’t had a meaningful shot on target, whereas Brock had flashes of incisiveness and could have been 4 up.  The second half, though, wasn’t a comfortable watch for the home fans.  One version would be that Brock dug in well, protected their lead and ultimately saw the game out.  Another would be that Christchurch made far too little of their excellence in possession and dominance in midfield, partly because they took over the Shot-Shy Kids mantle.  Chipangura, in particular, found himself in excellent positions on a number of occasions, but took far too long to attempt anything decisive and was closed down, or allowed defenders to get back.  Moore, Burns and Wellman (named man of the match) were all strong, winning tackles and headers; on 68 minutes Butler made a good save from close range with the rebound hammered over the bar from a tight angle; six minutes later he tipped a long-range shot wide, the corner then bouncing through the six-yard box and away.  But the more time that passed, the more it seemed that Brock would see it through despite offering very little in attack.  76 minutes, injury to referee!  Fortunately not a long delay, but there was sure to be 5 minutes of injury time and in the third additional minute Chipangura finally made space and took a shot on, finding the net from 20 yards.  Too little and too late for the visitors.  FT 2-1

Three points: ‘good enough’ (just about!).  It was a warm evening (I honestly thought they might have a heat break in the first half) and Brock did get tired, although that might partly have been caused by how much work they had to do without the ball.  More concerned about the injuries – Ben Atiako-Hall, Ronan and Rhys Taylor all limped off.  Speedy recovery to all.  Christchurch look a decent side in the making, and these could be three very valuable points when push comes to shove.  Both teams will improve as they bed down… but scoring within 34 seconds of the start of the season is going to take some beating!  See you at Bemerton…