Season in review: Brockenhurst 2022/23

29 April 2023

So let’s start with the big picture: congratulations to Horndean, worthy winners of the league, and to Bemerton Heath Harlequins, promoted automatically on PPG. A brief reflection: last year, in a 40-game season, Hamworthy won the league with 99 points, and Bashley were second with 90. This time round, only 38 games, but four teams with 94 points or above; if you’d offered Stoneham or Portchester those points tallies at the start of the season, I’m pretty sure they’d have bitten your arm off. But that’s not how it worked out. It won’t have escaped notice that Portchester were basically top throughout the season until 20 April when they were finally overhauled by Horndean; by 25 April they were down to fourth place. Interesting and perhaps unsurprising to see the joy on social media about this; Portchester haven’t made many friends this season. In passing I will add: Horndean and Bemerton, in that order, were the best two teams I saw this season – and as it happens, I saw both of them play Portchester in the last month, and on both occasions Portchy were well beaten. Still, there were 29 points between them and Moneyfields in 5th! At the other end of the table, Alresford had a miserable time (only one point at home all season… against Brock…) and Pagham were always in the bottom few, even if their relegation wasn’t confirmed until the final evening. So we still get those joyous trips to Bournemouth Poppies and Cowes Sports, even if we are spared a trek to Sussex (pending decisions about which clubs might get moved our way for next season!).

As for Brockenhurst…

In my review of last season, I said that we should all be pleased and proud to have enjoyed the ride (or words to that effect), because it might not come round again. Prophetic… Not helped by a shocking run of injuries (long-term, and to key players), and some unexpected departures, to higher leagues or warmer climes – dead proud of Mitch and dead chuffed for Kieran, but the squad went from thin to threadbare. As Pat said, reasons not excuses…

My mid-season review summed Brock up as “pretty average”; from the first 19 games, 25 points, sitting in tenth position. If we’d kept on at that rate, we’d have had 50 points and finished in 9th. Not exhilarating, but stress-free. Instead, second half of the season: 19 games, 13 points – including one solitary point away from home, at Alresford, and three wins – against US Portsmouth, Pagham Town and, gloriously, Moneyfields. I don’t think we ever dropped below 15th place in the table but there was definitely a flirtation with relegation for several weeks.

That makes it sound like a season of two halves, but actually it was more fractured than that. A terrible start (limp displays against Christchurch and Badshot Lea), better against Fareham, and then an unsettled run including 5 wins in a row, 6 defeats in a row – but it was evident that the Badgers looked like a mid-table team. Better than some, well beaten by others: mid-table at Christmas seemed about right. We’d already seen some pretty major changes to the squad by then: James Mayo leaving, initially to Shaftesbury, replaced by Brad Snelling, whose debut included two penalty saves at Laverstock and Ford (look out for those bears!). And of course we had Alfie, Ethan and Tyler from the Southampton Academy for three months: and they were magic.

Even so, there have been interesting and lively discussions amongst the Brock Massive about the value of having three loan players at once. This is absolutely not a criticism of the lads – nobody is questioning their ability or their commitment. But when they left, we had three pretty large holes, all in the back line, and they were very tough to fill – a wide range of full backs, in particular, over the next few weeks, with varying rates of success. And that was a major factor in the pretty desperate run of results in the new year, including that shocking display at Blackfield and Langley, vapid at Cowes, pathetic at Pagham, woeful at Hythe and Dibden…. Anyone who has read my reports regularly will know how often I commented on avoidable goals, and this was their time. It was also the time of conceding early goals: 15 seconds at the Gang Warily, but often within 5 minutes, shattering the confidence and regularly leaving mountains to climb. Some late signings – Kian and Sonny – and the return of Ronan definitely helped to stabilise things in time for that final joyous performance against Moneyfields which finally secured safety and sent everyone home happy.

So, yes, we’ll take it. Given the unprecedented run of injuries, and the unpredictable departures, 14th was probably fair enough, even if it got tighter than I would have liked. Best goal of the season for Brock was Mitch against Bournemouth Poppies; best goal I saw this season would have been Charlie Drury for Hythe and Dibden on Brock's final day, until I saw Kane O’Keefe’s overhead kick for Bemerton against Portchester three days later! Nice way to go out.

Awards time… really? Must I? Best performance – toss a coin, away at Bemerton in the League Cup or home to Moneyfields. Coldest match – Stoneham away, it was about -5. Player of the season: I have a real problem with this. So many players were only available for half a season, either through injury or other circumstances, and I’m effectively ruling them out. Player of the second half of the season was unquestionably Heath, what a fantastic young keeper he is (and his stunning save against Pagham, brilliantly captured in slo-mo by Alex Barnes, was vital). But he didn’t play regularly until late January, and that feels too compressed a part of the season. So I am going with Matt Sheedy, who had his best season for Brock: he was consistently good, in a huge variety of positions (including central defence!), and his footballing intelligence and awareness of space was often the best outlet. With both Heath and Matt, I can say that I always felt better when they were in the starting XI, and that’s a good sign.

Most of all, I want to say thank you: to Pat and his management team; to Alex, captain fantastic; to all the players; and to all those fans who have helped to make the journey a bit more bearable through their kindness, generosity and laughter. It wasn’t the easiest ride, but there are some great youngsters coming through and with a couple of signings, there can be more optimism about next year. I hope!

As for me next season: well, I’m not sure. I can already hear some people muttering about fairweather fans, and I know it’s in jest, but I’m going to say this now: the only game I have missed in the last two years was the pre-season friendly against Romsey in July 2022 when I tested positive for COVID. Everywhere else, home and away, I’ve been there. No, I don’t want a medal – others have been to as many, and one person has a longer unbroken run of attendance than me. But it’s been tough. I worry about my carbon footprint. The late-night drives home from all parts are killing me – sure, it doesn’t help when you’re having a rough season and most of the drives home come after poor performances, but it’s not only that: I’m much more early-bird than night-owl. Moreover, so many of these games are rearranged, often at quite short notice. All in all, organising everything – work, holidays, life – around Brockenhurst FC has taken its toll, and I wonder if I need to get things back into balance. Of course I’m still going to be supporting the Badgers, I’m not about to disappear, but maybe every game, home and away, whatever the weather or inconvenience – maybe that’s not realistic. The report-writing, too – I said I would write a report on every game for this season, and I have, but it’s another commitment. I’m genuinely grateful for the kind comments, and I’m pleased some of you have enjoyed reading them, but maybe every single game was putting more on myself than I realised. So, we’ll see how things pan out…