Match Report 

Bracknell Town (A) 18/12/2021

Meeting run away league leaders Bracknell Town, we produced one of our most disappointing performances of the season and suffered a 3-0 defeat, a scoreline that might have been even worse had it not been for an excellent display by Hugo Sobte between our goal posts.

Due to our skipper Harry Rush suffering from Covid and Romario Jonas being injured, the side showed two changes with George Nicholas replacing Harry, Andy O’Brien replacing Romario and a third change saw Massimo Giamattei return to his former club replacing Edon Pruti.

Before a crowd of 363 swelled by our supporters, Bracknell took the lead in just the ninth minute when a rare mistake by Calum Duffy saw him under hit his back pass to Hugo and Seb Bowerman, who was a thorn in our side throughout, raced onto the ball to round Hugo and turn it into the vacant net. Bracknell then dominated play and we were constantly on the defensive and it was not until the twentieth minute that we had a shot on target, with Bracknell keeper Michael Eacott diving to his left to save a Sam Saunders free kick. We began to come more into the game but were fortunate not to concede a second goal when a misplaced free kick by Sam opened up our defence and Dave Tarpey scored only to see the linesman’s flag raised. However, our relief was short lived as Bracknell broke down the right and the low cross into our goal area was deflected into our own net by Dwayne Duncan to put Bracknell ahead. Shortly before the interval.

On the stroke of half time Dwayne was replaced by Kyle Watson, making a very welcome return to the squad after injury. Bracknell dominated the opening stages of the second half and our goal led a charmed life with James Clark shooting wide, George Knight flicking the ball just over the bar after Hugo had clawed away a dangerous cross and then Hugo made an excellent save to deny Bowerman. Dan Carr then headed clear from our goal line with Hugo beaten. We made our second substitution with Adam Laaref replacing Massimo just short of the hour mark. We then made a third substitution with Tomasz Siemienczuk coming on to replace Jack Hutchinson as we threw caution to the wind now with four attacking players, Ogo, Tom Collins, Adam and Tomasz on the pitch.

With eight minutes remaining Sam was sent off for his second yellow card after a petulant foul on Bowerman. Bracknell scored their third and final goal in the ninetieth minute of the game. We had a free kick just outside the Bracknell penalty area. Ogo struck his free kick straight against the Bracknell defensive wall and the ball was quickly played down field to Shamar Moore out on the right flank and he found Bowerman in acres of place in the middle and he calmly stroked the ball past a stranded Hugo to ensure that he deservedly won the ‘man of the match’ award.

Side:Hugo Sobte, Dan Carr, Massimo Giamatteie, Calum Duffy, Dwayne Duncan, Andy O’Brien (capt), Sam Saunders,George Nicholas, Ogo Obi, Tom Collins and Jack Hutchinson. Subs used: Kyle Watson for Duncan (45),Adam Laaref for Giamattei (55) and Tomasz Siemienczuk for Hutchinson (70) Unused substitutes : Edon Pruti and Halim Bangura.