Wincanton Town 3 Brockenhurst 0

12 October 2024

Another new ground: up to Wincanton, possibly not the most distant in terms of miles but definitely in terms of journey-time.  And there was me thinking I’d seen the last of the road to Shaftesbury… now, it’s Shaftesbury and beyond!  Brock have been struggling lately, to say the least, and hopes weren’t necessarily high for this one.  However, there were changes:  Valero, newly-signed and straight into the team between the sticks, and returns from injury for Rhys Taylor and Luke Gray.

So this was a fine performance by the Badgers: some clever, incisive football which on another day would have seen a better return, kept out by three outstanding saves by emergency keeper Nathan Ball, while the Winkers – also known as the Wasps – barely had any meaningful possession in the Brock half.  All accurate: but unfortunately, that was the second half, by which time Brock were already 3-0 down and staring down a familiar barrel. 

The game could barely have started worse for the visitors: Williams battled well to win the ball out on the left wing, his cross was far too deep but picked up by O’Hare in acres of space – and his mis-hit shot bobbled to Voizey, ten yards out, who made no mistake.  In truth, the first half was poor by the standards of the Wessex Premier – not helped by a heavy pitch after so much rain, a swirling wind, or a referee who gave (or didn’t give) a number of curious decisions.  But the Wasps were the more dangerous, mostly with long balls in behind which the Brock defence struggled to deal with.  One excellent interception from Wellman; one shot over the bar after Burgess gave the ball away; and then a Brock attack broke down, everyone the wrong side of the ball, and one long ball over the top was enough.  Mack gave Burns a couple of yards’ start but beat him to the ball and comfortably placed his shot past Valero.  18 minutes, 2-0, a long way back.  Brock didn’t quit, but passes were overhit or intercepted… and the game was already two minutes into overtime when Dicker took a long throw which bounced in the box and up onto Lawton’s arms.  Penalty, Jarvis made no mistake.  HT 3-0

Brock made a switch at half-time and went to three at the back, which allowed Burgess a more advanced role as wing-back, and to be fair they were much the better side after the break, although no doubt the hosts were happy to sit back and soak up what pressure there was.  Wincanton weren’t harmed by Walker getting an early sin-bin, but gradually they were no longer first to every second ball, and Brock did create chances – Adams crowded out by the defenders, Moreno taking too long to sort his feet out from a Simpson pass, and then on 72 minutes an Adams corner was swirling in, tipped onto the bar by Ball, the ball rebounding into the crowded box and cleared.  A pass through the six-yard box from Moreno which Simpson and Adams couldn’t reach.  Another Simpson cross, Adams reaching it, brilliant point-blank save from Ball.  Moreno put the rebound wide; from our angle it looked easier to score but that might have been deceptive.  Gray put through, Ball coming out and grabbing the ball just in time at his feet.  Burgess through – great save Ball.  And in injury time, Adams sent Gray through again, another outstanding point-blank save.  For an “only one available” keeper, Ball had a great game and was probably man of the match.  Only fair to mention that Voizey should have scored with a header from a rare Wasps break – but in the end, the scoreline remained unchanged.  FT 3-0

I’m not going to spend long on this.  It was great to have Rhys and Luke back; Tyler won about a thousand headers; Jamie-Jay looked much more comfortable in the second period, indeed overall the second half was much better than the first.  Jake is always good to watch… and it’s hard to say anyone had a stinker.  But obviously something didn’t gel right, and the first half was… a tough watch.  Wouldn’t it be nice to think that the second 45 – the first in which we haven’t conceded for a fair while – might be the start of the turnaround…