The season in Brock

OK, first things first, congratulations to Hamworthy. Worthy champions, only one defeat all season, outstanding achievement and well done to @Sillsmeister and his squad. Bastard shame about the Vase, and good luck for next year in the Southern League.

Right, on to more important things. I’ve been to every competitive game this season and I wanted to take some time to reflect on Brockenhurst’s achievement. And what a year it’s been! I know that some fans, and maybe some players, are disappointed and think that we’ve come up a bit short. I couldn’t disagree more. I’ve been following this club since 2015, and in every other year I’ve watched a pretty ordinary team sit resolutely in 12th-15th – sometimes lower – one year going more than ten games without a win. When we first went top of the league, in late August, we grinned – one of those things that happens when you’ve played more games than most, very early season, bit of a fluke. That feeling was backed up by an immediate 4-0 home defeat against Hamble. Then we won again the next week and stayed top of the table for three months! And even since dropping behind Horndean, we’ve stayed in the fight. 5th round of the Vase, too. It’s been a helluva ride and everyone at the club should be incredibly proud.

Anyone looking for reasons why we didn’t finish higher need look no further than this: the ten games against the five teams above us yielded 5 points. Most of those games were close, missed penalties and missed chances – and some defensive howlers – costing Brock. But in the end, that was the difference between a great season and a sensational one.

It’s also true that things were never quite the same after Jack left to pursue his dreams in Oz. Fantastic for him, wonderful opportunity; but his influence as captain and leader, as well as excellent defender, was evident from the first game, and we missed him badly. Got the team defending higher, keeping possession, looking for the right pass, playing as a team… And yes, the squad did look a bit thin on occasion. Both Alex and DPD have been excellent mid-season signings, and some of the youngsters have been excellent (take a bow, Ben Dukes), but we’re a bit short when the first-choice team is unavailable. Even so there have been some outstanding performances; a personal view is that the best was the 6-0 home win against Alton, although the 3-0 against previously unbeaten Shaftesbury was also mighty impressive; and I recall the 2-1 home win against Blackfield and Langley as the best game of football I’ve seen in the Wessex League. And there have been some stinkers – insipid against Portchester, hapless against Hamble, and two shocking performances on the same ground against Hythe and Dibden and Infinity, even though that latter ended in victory. But overall, I still rank the home league cup defeat against Baffins as the worst performance of the season. We could still be playing now and wouldn’t have created a meaningful chance. Despite that, some of our performances in the Autumn were blinding; since the turn of the year, it just hasn’t quite clicked in the same way.

Along the way there have also been some moments which still stand out in the memory: James Mayo’s astonishing injury-time save at Alton; the winning penalty in 90+9 at Hamble; the last-gasp leveller at Littlehampton (least said about what followed the better); Christie’s goal against Brimscombe & Thrupp; Christie’s free kick at Christchurch; Mitch’s goal against Bodmin; watching Christie Ward.

I realise I’ve named a few, but not everyone, and I can’t close without saying how much I’ve loved watching Connor bombing up and down the right, Kieran’s purple patch in the autumn when he couldn’t stop scoring (no I don’t mean at Amesbury), the calmness of Joe and Patrick, full-blooded commitment from Ronan and Mitch, Silv… and how much we’ve missed James (get fit soon!). I’ve missed some out, and sorry.

I’ll quite miss going to Bashley – local derby and a decent ground. I won’t miss the trip to Amesbury (or their shocking pitch), and I was quite hoping Shaftesbury would go up (bugger of a journey, especially when you get fogged off!). Interested to see what newcomers we get for next year.

A final note: who’d be a fixtures secretary? Somehow, 9 of our first 12 league games were at home, as well as 4 of the last 6, meaning a run of 22 games mid-season of which 15 were away. Does it make a difference? Not really, we all play 20 home and 20 away; and the challenge of 1 home game in 8 (and 2 in 11) was probably counter-balanced by the chance to rack up home points and build confidence at the start of the season. But a more balanced schedule would have been appreciated, certainly by the fans. Nobody to blame, one of those things…

So, in summary, it’s been great. Excellent home crowds, a decent away following, some great football and a real chance to push on next year. Thank you to Pat and the coaching team, everyone who has made us so welcome, and all the players, whatever part they played – it’s been a blast!