RCC2 Brockenhurst 2 AFC Stoneham 6

18 November 2025

OK so maybe I should start by tidying up the third goalscorer from Saturday… except, I can’t.  Luke is officially in the record books as the scorer; apologies to him that none of us in the stands identified this but I’d need to see a replay to be able to do anything like “tidying up”.   It was a goal, part of a 3-0 win, and that’s enough for me!

So, tonight: 17 days ago, these two sides met in a pulsating league encounter which the Badgers won having fallen 2-0 behind.  Fast forward to today and a second round tie in the Russell Cotes Cup: not the kindest draw for either side perhaps but if you want to win a knockout tournament you just need to beat whoever’s put in front of you.  Also a good opportunity to give a chance to those who haven’t had many minutes recently.   Stoneham made a few changes too, although most of their team were pretty familiar…

Not a night to dwell on for Brock, to be honest: you just need to beat whatever’s in front of you, and that’s what the Purps did very convincingly.  They were dominant throughout and, changes or not, looked well drilled and comfortable with what they were doing.  Within three minutes, Oliver Jenkins was left in far too much space on the edge of the box, cut inside Sam Steel and curled a lovely finish into the far corner with Valero rooted to the spot.  Four minutes later, Steel tried to head back to Valero, got too little on it, tried again – Callaghan nipped in first, taken down by the keeper, stonewall penalty which he converted himself, 0-2.  “It’s going to be a long night.”  Brock were being outbattled as much as outplayed, struggling to get out of their own half with every forward pass seemingly cut out and coming straight back, but that resulted in too many risky square passes in their own final third.  (Easy from the stands, isn’t it?!)  Callaghan might have done better on 23 minutes but his shot was tame; on the half-hour he was played through but declined the shot (which looked the better option) and tried to find a teammate but his cross was deflected away by Rossi.  Rossi then cleared off the line after a chaotic corner: in truth it was surprising that it took until the 39^th minute for Jenkins to extend the lead for the visitors, a clever flick-header from a corner.  Game done?  Not so fast – superb run from Burgess (probably Brock’s best player on the night), excellent cross, expert finish from Barry Mason.  Mason looked suspiciously offside, but a flicker of hope, perhaps?  HT 1-3

To be honest, nobody really expected the Badgers to be able to turn things around after such a disjointed half, and the improbable soon became the impossible: 12 minutes after the restart, a neat Purps move put Jenkins clear inside the box, taken down from behind by Rossi, a second stonewall pen converted by Callaghan.  And then two minutes later, a long goal kick from Jobe, Rossi won the header but placed it straight across the pitch and into the path of Jenkins, unchallenged, who calmly completed his hattrick.  Still half an hour to go – but actually Brock did get a bit better, perhaps helped by a few substitutions from both teams, and while they never threatened to get back into the game they certainly made it more watchable.  Burgess hit an excellent shot on 77 minutes which Jobe had to stretch to save, rebound headed away by a defender; and then in the final minutes, Brooks with a good run to set up the cross for McCarthy-Gardiner, finally smashed home by Walker.  Respectability?  Not really, and within a minute the visitors had gone up the other end and McIlroy was given the freedom of the box to round off the scoring.  FT 2-6

To the victors the spoils; Stoneham thoroughly deserved this, no question, fair play to them.  more intensity, more determination, just the better team.  For Brock: well, all things come to an end, even long unbeaten runs, and if you have to get beat maybe the RCC is the place to do it.   It’s hard to be too critical when there were so many changes to the team – which was surely the right call, by the way – it’s just that the opposition was ruthless.  Jamie had a fine game, but I think a few of them will feel they weren’t at their best for whatever reason.  Fortunately, they get the chance to put that right at Sherborne on Saturday…